SARASOTA COUNTY, Fla. — Students in Sarasota County start the school year at the end of this month, and already some areas say they don't have good WiFi.
People in the community are asking for help.
“We are largely disconnected and, on an island, when it comes to infrastructure,” Renee James Gilmore said. “That infrastructure includes the digital spaces that we are trying to fill in so that people can get connected.”
Gilmore spoke in front of the Sarasota County Commission on Wednesday on behalf of the NAACP. But she also spoke from experience as a resident of Newtown.
The NAACP is asking that some of the CARES Act funding be designated to the Newtown area to expand the bandwidth and help kids in an underserved community have WiFi for online learning.
County Commissioner Charles Hines says it's the first he's heard of this issue
“There's been a constant conversation of revitalizing Newtown and bringing business to Newtown and my frustration was in these years of conversation,” Hines said. “No one ever mentioned an issue with connectivity.”
People living in that area can get service from Comcast or Frontier and the Sarasota School District tells us they will point families in the direction of resources for cheaper internet.
But the district also told us: “Families who commit to concurrent remote learning (Option 2) are also committing to providing all the tools and resources necessary for their child(ren) to be successful.”
Because of this, the County Commission wants to help.
“The County Commission agrees that, that need is there and it's very important for the students now and then also for the long-term economic development of Newtown,” Hines said.
Now all the commission needs are specifics like how to execute this, determining the cost, and the timeline.
Commissioner Hines hopes to have those details in the next week so the commission can come up with a plan. The county has until December to spend the CARES Act money.
The Sarasota County school district tells 10 Tampa Bay, individual schools will make contact with all families before the first day of school, and they'll set up a time for identified students to pick up devices the week of Aug. 24.
But, if it's more than a device you need, like WiFi, some providers offer programs to help make internet service more affordable.
For example, Comcast Xfinity has a plan you can apply for that will cost you $9.95/month. Or if you have Spectrum $14.99/month.
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