Since the spread of COVID-19 throughout the Kansas City metropolitan area, school districts have been grappling with how to transition students and educators to remote learning environments, prioritizing the safety of educators, students and their families amidst this unprecedented public health crisis.
Unfortunately, this process puts our most under-resourced students at risk; families that do not have access to stable internet connections and devices cannot, meaningfully, take part in remote learning opportunities.
LEANLAB worked with 23 school districts to survey their students to determine their exact need for connectivity and devices. They found that 19% of charter school students’ homes are without access to the internet, and 18% without computers or tablets.
After learning the extent of the need, LEANLAB advocated on their behalf to funders across Kansas City and SchoolSmartKC quickly stepped up to provide $467,360 in support of 17 charter system schools in purchasing devices and hotspots for students and families as part of a larger $2.1 million education COVID-19 relief fund.
In addition to providing fundraising support LEANLAB researched vendors that were able to provide devices and hotspots and used the collective buying power of all the schools to negotiate prices and help smaller schools achieve a fair price per student.
To date, the charter schools have used the funding to purchase 592 laptops or tablets and 719 internet hotspots for students impacted by the sprawling city’s disparity of access. There’s still a great need for devices and connectivity, but this early success marks a significant milestone in the effort to get students online and keep them from falling behind their connected peers who made a more seamless transition to remote learning.
A number of funders, nonprofits, and school leaders have also come together to problem-solve the immediate needs of families who are disconnected. A coalition of KC organizations including Kansas City Public Schools, Kansas City Public Libraries, Connecting for Good, the City of KCMO, Commerce Bank, and LEANLAB Education are spearheading an initiative to strategically place WiFi-enabled buses in neighborhoods that have been identified as “digital deserts.” These digital deserts are typically not covered by traditional service providers and have large numbers of disconnected families. Additionally, all Kansas City public library parking lots have free WiFi 24 hours a day.
Covid-19 has cast a light on pervasive inequities across our communities but it is inspiring to see this as time to create long-term change, leveraging instructional technology as an important tool to provide all children with excellent educational opportunities, once and for all.
The second phase of our Covid-19 initiative is ensuring that these immediate efforts translate to long-term change. To do so, LEANLAB has initiated a teacher and parent needs assessment and will publish early findings in mid-May, while continuing to support school districts with sustainable technology and connectivity plans.
LEANLAB Education plans to resume its original mission-driven work later this year, researching the impact of emerging technologies in real classroom environments, in search of “breakthrough”innovations in the education field.
Schools receiving SchoolSmartKC funding to secure hot spots and devices include:
Academie Lafayette
Academy for Integrated Arts
Citizens of the World – KC
Crossroads Charter Schools
DeLaSalle Education Center
Frontier Charter Schools
Genesis
Gordon Parks
Guadalupe Education Services
Hogan Preparatory Academy
Hope Leadership Academy
Ewing Marion Kauffman School
Kansas City Girls Preparatory Academy
Kansas City International Academy
KIPP KC
Lee A. Tolbert Academy
Scuola Vita Nuova