As part of a citywide goal to prevent students from falling behind with virtual learning this school year, San Jose has partnered with AT&T to provide 11,000 hotspots to students and residents who have no internet access at home.
“We have heard too often of our children in San Jose having to sit in a Burger King parking lot at 10 p.m. to finish their homework because they do not have broadband at home,” Mayor Sam Liccardo said during a news conference on Monday. “We cannot continue to move forward with our community where too many of our children are unable to learn online.”
Of the 11,000 hotspots, 8,000 will be donated to the Santa Clara County Office of Education, which is working with school districts to identify students who need access to the internet before the new school year starts this month. Selected students will receive an AT&T hotspot device, free high-speed internet and unlimited data plans that allow up to 15 devices in the household to be connected.
The 3,000 additional hotspot devices will go to the San Jose Public Library System and will be available for any San Jose resident with a library card to check out for 90 days, with an optional one-time 30-day extension.
“During this time when families are staying at home and schools are closed it really has made us focus on how important it is to stay connected and to have that broadband for kids to connect to their schools,” said Rhona Johnson, President of AT&T California. “And I am so extremely proud of this collaborative effort.”
San Jose leaders have been working for more than three years to address the digital divide among its residents, but the coronavirus pandemic and subsequent digital learning plans rolled out by districts forced the city to move more quickly. A study from 2017 found that nearly 100,000 San Jose residents — primarily in low-income Latino and Black households — did not have broadband access in their homes.
The new hotspots are part of the city’s $8.2 million COVID-19 digital inclusion plan that the council unanimously approved at the end of June to address the lack of connectivity for low-income San Jose residents.
As part of the plan, the city is building out its “Access East Side” community Wi-Fi project to construct wireless access nodes in the East Side Union High School District attendance areas of Jame Lick, Overfelt, Yerba Buena, Independence, Oak Grove, Andrew P. Hill and Silver Creek High schools. Once completed, the project will provide access to more than 300,000 residents in those districts, according to the city.
The city also devoted funding to enhancing Wi-Fi connection outside of city community centers, parks and libraries to provide “additional learning in a safe and distanced manner.”
