Apr 24, 2020 2 min read

With major gaps in internet access among the student body, Southeastern Greene School District received more than $37,000 from the state to assist with remote learning.

Superintendent Richard Pekar said about 60% of their students receive free or reduced lunches, while half do not have high-speed internet access or internet capable devices at home, which are the metrics state officials were using to determine how to allocate funding.

“It’s just not sufficient for online learning, videos and streaming, and so forth,” Pekar said.

The $37,534 the district is receiving is part of $5.1 million in grants being distributed by the Pennsylvania Department of Education.

According to Pekar, the money will be used to purchase access points for Bobtown Elementary School and Mapletown Junior-Senior High School, as well as 164 laptops for students.

“This is definitely a good start for us,” Pekar said.

With the access points, students will be able to access high-speed internet while in the parking lot of either school, according to Pekar.

Since schools closed due to COVID-19, students in Southeastern Greene School District have been receiving physical instructional packets.

While Pekar says they hope to be able to purchase the laptops this week and get them distributed to students, students will continue to receive the physical school work.

“Right now, the first part of the plan was printed instructional packets. Those will take us all the way through May 18,” Pekar said.

From May 18, to June 10, the district will have an “enrichment period,” which will include online activities, according to Pekar.

“We’ll still have printed enrichment activities,” Pekar said.