CHARLEMONT — Amy Coates spends her days and nights worrying about how her six children will handle all-remote learning this fall because the rural area where her family lives still isn’t wired for high-speed internet.
Coates’ children are part of the 17 percent of students in the Mohawk Trail and Hawlemont regional school districts who don’t have access to high-speed internet.
“We have DSL,” Coates lamented. “All of the kids have their own devices, so that isn’t the problem, but only one device can be used at a time here. How is that going to work?”
Coates said she and other parents were told the district would “figure things out,” and maybe open several hubs where children could go to use high-speed internet, but she said it is still unclear how they would get there, how long they would stay each day and who would be there to oversee and help students.
Sheryl Stanton, who took over as superintendent of the Mohawk Trail and Hawlemont school districts in July, said she and others are working on the details of the remote plan, including Coates’ concerns.
“An all-remote model does create equity factors and we’re very concerned about that,” Stanton said. “We’re looking into which households don’t have internet access and how we might be able to help.”
Coates has filed a complaint with the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) and is waiting to hear back. According to DESE spokeswoman Jacqueline Reis, individual districts’ reopening plans are local decisions, though parents who have concerns or questions about COVID-19 plans can email the department at COVID19K12parentinfo@mass.gov.
Under a remote schooling plan, Coates is left wondering whether her children will be able to learn this fall.
“Eighty-three percent of the districts’ students will be OK with virtual learning, but what about the 17 percent who don’t have high-speed?” she asked. “How does a district vote a plan that doesn’t include 100 percent of its students? Those of us who don’t have high-speed internet don’t even have a plan in writing from the district yet.”
She said it isn’t about whether the 17 percent have the correct devices and supplies, though some will probably struggle with that as well, but about access to learning or lack thereof.
“Everyone should have an equal education,” she said. “I don’t want my kids doing their work on paper copies while the rest of their classmates are meeting online with their teachers.”
Coates said with school just a few weeks away, there have been no decisions about whether the districts will open those internet hubs to students and where they will be, or about whether transportation will be provided as she believes it should be.
“What are parents who work going to do?” she asked.
Like other school districts in the area, Mohawk Trail and Hawlemont school districts had to submit to DESE three plans for the fall: a fully in-person, a fully remote and a hybrid plan. Coates said she would have liked, at the very least, for the districts to adopt a hybrid plan, but prefers a fully in-person plan.
“We made a decision about how we are going to reopen in the fall, and now we’re working on how that will happen,” Stanton explained. “High on our list is connectivity for those who don’t have high-speed internet.”
Stanton said there are about 900 students in the districts, and about 150 students are without high-speed internet. The districts are trying to tease out how many households it affects, because, for instance, six of those students live with Coates and two with one of her friends nearby.
“We’re working with our foundation to see if it can help with the cost to some families who can’t afford high-speed or any internet,” Stanton said. “We’re checking with others about their cell service and whether it’s adequate. We can maybe provide a ‘hot spot’ to about 40 households, if that’s all it would take.”
Stanton said that wouldn’t be the best solution, but it would get students through the fall semester.
“We’re also talking with satellite companies who, in the spring when we had to shut down, unexpectedly removed data caps,” she said. “Maybe they can do that for those households through the fall. Then, there are families that have nothing, and we’re talking about creating spaces for their children to learn.”
Stanton said there are already local businesses and churches that have offered space. There’s also the possibility of schools opening up small hubs for students.
“We’ll identify everyone who needs help, something, and then we’ll do something about it,” she said.
Cheryl Holzhauer, one of Coates’ neighbors, said she has a daughter Olyvia, 10, a fifth grader who goes to Buckland-Shelburne Elementary School, and a daughter Makayla, 15, a sophomore who attends Mohawk Trail Regional School.
“We don’t have high-speed internet either,” she said. “I’m a single mother who has to work. I’m worried about my kids being home alone all day and getting work done without supervision.”
The two women said they would like to see schools open in a safe way, with social distancing, masks and whatever else needs to be done.
Coates and Holzhauer said they can’t afford to have an independent company “come in and wire us up,” because they would have to sign a two-year contract and it would cost each of them more than $2,000 over that time.
“Let’s be fair here,” Coates said.
Coates’ children range from a third grader to a 12th grader: Evanna Addison, 8, is in third grade; Gabriel Addison, 9, is in fourth; Aleya Michaud, 9, is in fourth; Cody Ryder, 17, is a senior at Mohawk Trail; while Tyler Matteson, 16, is a junior at the high school; and Gabrielle Ryder, 14, is a freshman. A seventh child is grown and has moved out.
“It’s not fair that our school districts didn’t explain what’s going to happen for us,” Gabrielle said. “We’re stuck in limbo. I want to be able to see my friends, either in-person or virtually.”
Gabriel chimed in to say his school, Hawlemont Regional Elementary School, knows he, like other students, doesn’t have high-speed internet, so it should have adopted a hybrid learning plan.
“If someone is on the computer here, everyone else’s devices just spin,” he said.
“The bandwidth just doesn’t support more than one device,” Coates said. “My children actually have a disability here.”
Coates said, for instance, Tyler is a junior who will be taking his SATs this year, as well as applying to colleges. She’s not sure how he’ll get all of that done while waiting for his turn to do his schoolwork on a computer.
“I’ve got a lot to juggle this year,” Tyler said. “I’m not sure how to do that when I can’t get online much of the time. It’s something I’ll have to figure out because even libraries haven’t reopened.”
Stanton said she, other administrators, teachers and staff members understand how important school is to not only students, but parents and guardians.
“We empathize with families,” she said. “We’re doing the best we can to make sure everyone is healthy and safe during this pandemic. Our resources are stretched, but we’re doing what we can.”
Stanton said she sees many challenges, but the districts are pushing through them. She said she hopes everything works out well for Coates, Holzhauer and all of the other families within the districts.
“We will have a plan in writing before too long,” she said. “We want to make sure we’re not over- or under-reacting and that we’re educating all of our students — every one — equitably.”