Most Central Florida students will either return to brick and mortar classrooms next month or attend online classes.Reopening will present any number of challenges including internet access in Flagler County.Flagler County Schools serves just under 13,000 students and the district is able to provide all with either a laptop or an iPad.The situation is wonderful, unless the family can't get on the internet.“This has always been a problem for us but COVID has really highlighted this problem,” Katie Biancaniello said.Biancaniello is a mother on a mission to level the learning field for her children and other students in rural Flagler County.When all students went online at the end of March as the pandemic took hold, many quickly learned they lived in an internet desert.“It was very unreliable. We would try to hop on, we would get kicked off, the audio wouldn't work, the streaming wasn't fast enough, it was an absolute nightmare,” Biancaniello said.With school districts looking at virtual classes for the foreseeable future, Biancaniello started a Facebook group aimed at getting broadband to underserved areas. More than 100 people have joined so far and she's getting signatures on a petition with the same message for county leaders who might carry more clout with internet providers.“The providers can show compassion. They can really push to help families in this crisis, they have the ability to provide us with the service that we need,” Biancaniello said.School district officials are aware and are mapping areas where service is spotty or non-existant. They hope they can connect families by providing hot spots though depending on the carrier, even those aren't always usable.Students return to school Aug. 24 with at least 35-40% opting to attend online.
Most Central Florida students will either return to brick and mortar classrooms next month or attend online classes.
Reopening will present any number of challenges including internet access in Flagler County.
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Flagler County Schools serves just under 13,000 students and the district is able to provide all with either a laptop or an iPad.
The situation is wonderful, unless the family can't get on the internet.
“This has always been a problem for us but COVID has really highlighted this problem,” Katie Biancaniello said.
Biancaniello is a mother on a mission to level the learning field for her children and other students in rural Flagler County.
When all students went online at the end of March as the pandemic took hold, many quickly learned they lived in an internet desert.
“It was very unreliable. We would try to hop on, we would get kicked off, the audio wouldn't work, the streaming wasn't fast enough, it was an absolute nightmare,” Biancaniello said.
With school districts looking at virtual classes for the foreseeable future, Biancaniello started a Facebook group aimed at getting broadband to underserved areas.
More than 100 people have joined so far and she's getting signatures on a petition with the same message for county leaders who might carry more clout with internet providers.
“The providers can show compassion. They can really push to help families in this crisis, they have the ability to provide us with the service that we need,” Biancaniello said.
School district officials are aware and are mapping areas where service is spotty or non-existant.
They hope they can connect families by providing hot spots though depending on the carrier, even those aren't always usable.
Students return to school Aug. 24 with at least 35-40% opting to attend online.
August 06, 2020 at 05:43AM
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Flagler mother works to get broadband internet to rural areas for students learning online - WESH 2 Orlando
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