Living in broadband gaps, rural WNC families improvise to make virtual learning work
Brian GordonWith cellular connection spotty and cable service stopping short of their home, the McGovern siblings — Reagan, Destiny, and Mckenzie — take turns using the hot spot on their mother’s cellphone. One logs on, completes their virtual school lessons for the day, and passes the phone. If two tried to connect at the same time, one would be denied.
The process is lengthy - three times longer than their mother, Amanda McGovern, would prefer. Still, McGovern said the hot spot handoffs remain the best way for her children to finish their school work.
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“We have absolutely no other internet where we are,” said McGovern, who lives with her family in the Edneyville area of Henderson County. “We really don't live that rural considering where some of the other people in our school district live."
Families and school districts across rural Western North Carolina relayed similar broadband barriers as they devise internet solutions to sustain virtual lessons through at least mid-May. The Land of Sky Regional Council determined 13% of households in Buncombe, Henderson, Transylvania and Madison counties had no access to the internet. Others technically have access, but connection may be plodding or inconsistent.
Seeing these gaps, districts and communities have coordinated to give rural families multiple paths to continue remote learning as coronavirus shuts school buildings. While families say they appreciate the efforts, parents like Amanda McGovern contend instruction invariably suffers due to internet connection and the lack thereof.
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Signal any which way
Tucked on a hill between winding curves of the Tuckasegee River, Midway Baptist Church has become a literal hot spot for rural students looking to complete their virtual homework. So has a nearby Bryson City-area McDonald’s, whitewater rafting center, and four other area Baptist churches.
To increase service in Swain, SkyWave, a Bryson City-based wireless internet provider, set up free Wi-Fi zones across the county. With many local churches residing atop hills, these houses of worship are prime locations for emitting internet signal to the rural county’s most remote regions.
At all hours of the day, families lacking reliable home internet connections roll up to one of 27 sites around Swain County, park, and download school assignments. Some drive away to complete their work elsewhere. Others remain in their cars to finish or livestream with teachers.
"Absolutely not ideal that folks are having to do their homework in their car, but that is one of the ways we're trying to be creative,” said Karen Cook, technology director for Swain County Schools. On setting up virtual learning in a district with spotty connection, Cook said, “We're kind of building this plane as we're flying it.”
Set along the Tennessee border in far western North Carolina, Swain County is vast and sparse, with around 2,000 public school students across 528 square miles. Secluded hollers and coves dot the landscape. With a low population density, the county doesn’t garner the services of several internet providers, leaving inconsistent connectivity throughout. This issue arises across the region.
Even before coronavirus upended the school day, many rural students improvised to get online. Transylvania County Schools Superintendent Dr. Jeff McDaris said some families in his district headed to their local Ingles Markets to access broadband and complete work.
Getting out hot spots
The Dogwood Health Trust, created from the $1.5 billion sale of Mission Health, has funded more than 100 internet hot spots for students in rural areas to continue their school year online.
Vanessa Wrenn, director of digital teaching and learning for the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, said Cherokee County Schools has explored using buses to provide internet.
Karen Banks, director of technology for Yancey County Schools, said her district welcomes any hot spot device donations from the public as it looks to fill connectivity gaps across the county.
Charter, Sprint and Verizon have offered free internet and unlimited data for two months, though a baseline signal (one many families lack) is required to utilize these benefits.
For now, Swain students utilize the SkyWave internet zones, even congregating as classes in parking lots to live chat with teachers and best replicate the traditional classroom feel. “It gives them some camaraderie about being with classmates,” Cook said.
Even before Gov. Roy Cooper closed North Carolina public schools on March 14, Buncombe County Schools and Asheville City Schools planned how to get pocket-sized hot spot devices to families in need of reliable home internet.
BCS spokeswoman Stacia Harris said more than 1,000 hot spot devices have gone out to students in her district alone.
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Where hot spots don't help
Despite the plethora of Buncombe hot spots, the expansive county contains its own broadband gaps.
“There are some locations in our county that hot spots don’t work,” said Susanne Swanger, associate superintendent for BCS at the April 2 district board meeting. “So, we’ve got to think differently. How can we meet those students?”
According to Swanger, between 65% to 95% of BCS students in each class participate in the district’s Virtual Days program.
In surrounding districts, school leaders contend hot spots alone won’t solve broadband gaps in their district.
“Even if we gave them a Wi-Fi spot, it wouldn't work,” said Bill Nolte, superintendent of Haywood County Schools. “They live behind a mountain or they're in a valley.”
In Polk County Schools, Superintendent Aaron Greene said weak cellular signal stunts the effectiveness of take-home hot spot devices. “It doesn't matter how much hot spot you send out,” he said. “If you don't have good cell service, you're not going to get any kind of internet.”
For younger grades, most districts send home physical work packets. For older students, many districts encourage families travel to their local school parking lots to download online lesson materials. Those who cannot do that retrieve physical assignments as well.
Amanda McGovern appreciates the paper assignment options Henderson County provides but said these physical materials lack some of the rigor of the boundless potential of online sources.
“The paper, in particular, seems to be a lot more basic,” she said. “They're getting a lot more information when they're online. I kind of feel like my kids aren't able to access as much as what their classmates with access could do.”
Physically getting to these WiFi zones remains another challenge for students and families without easy transportation. In the age of social distancing, the district can’t pick them up, nor is carpooling advised. Both McGovern and her husband Raymond work in emergency services, leaving them less time, particularly during a virus outbreak, to shuttle three children to and from community parking lots. (The McGovern’s have a fourth child who is not yet school age.)
For now, Reagan, Destiny, and Mckenzie McGovern will continue using the lone cell phone hot spot to absorb lessons one at a time. As spring progresses and the leaves grow thicker on the trees surrounding their home, Amanda McGovern worries their only internet signal may be impeded. This seasonal occurrence is an annual obstacle, one McGovern feels is more pressing this school year, for obvious reasons.
Brian Gordon is the education and social issues reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times. He can be reached at bgordon@citizentimes.com or on Twitter at @briansamuel92.