Somerville Expanding Internet Access For Public School Families

SOMERVILLE, MA — Public school officials expect that "close to 100 percent" of families in the district will have internet access by the end of next week. The city worked with local service provider Comcast and used a COVID-19 assistance grant from the Somerville Job Creation and Retention Trust to allow students to access online learning through the end of the school year.

According to the Somerville Public Schools, 41.8 percent of the student population is considered Economically Disadvantaged and more than 70 percent receive free or reduced lunch. The district said one of its biggest challenges is ensuring equity of access to the full range of resources provided to students.

"As challenging as this transition has been for our students, staff, and families, I am incredibly proud of the commitment of our staff and our city partners to ensure that we are moving forward in our work through a lens of equity," Superintendent Mary Skipper said in a statement. "If we are going to stand true to our vision of equity, we have to be willing to diligently work through the challenges that may surface no matter what the current context may be, and be persistent and innovative in finding solutions. This was truly a team effort that will have a long-lasting impact on our students and our families."

Since schools closed March 17, the district has loaned more than 1,100 Chromebooks, 184 Fire family edition tablets and 34 iPads to families who did not already have a device at home to support their students' school work. Chromebooks are being issued for students in grades 3 to 12, and Fire tablets are given out to students in pre-kindergarten to grade 2. Special education students receive iPads.

Based on responses to a survey administered shortly after schools closed, and personal outreach to families, approximately 450 families in the district indicated they had no internet service at home.

The city worked with Comcast to address some of the challenges that families encountered in accessing Comcast's Internet Essentials program and came up with a plan to support families in need.

The district entered into a contract with Comcast last week for 450 promotional codes for six months of home internet service at no cost to families. To date, more than 120 of the 450 families identified through the survey and personal outreach have signed up for the six months of free home internet service.

Outreach to the remaining families will continue this week and next. In addition to the Comcast promotional codes, the district will give Verizon Jetpacks to families who are not eligible for the Comcast service and is awaiting shipment of those devices.