EPB has now installed 27 free Wi-Fi hotspots across Hamilton County in an effort to increase student access to internet and online learning opportunities while schools are closed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The initiative, a partnership among EPB, the city of Chattanooga, Hamilton County Schools, the Benwood Foundation, the Enterprise Center and Chattanooga 2.0, was announced last week as one of the ways the local community is rallying to help support students and families.
Hamilton County public schools are closed until at least April 27, depending on updates at the local or state levels related to the virus outbreak. Until then, teachers are reaching students through mostly online platforms, except for spring break April 6-10.
“It is estimated that about a fourth of our students don’t have access to the internet at home,” said Bryan Johnson, superintendent of Hamilton County Schools, in a statement. “EPB Quick Connect is helping students and teachers stay connected during this unprecedented time of distance learning.”
EPB’s “Quick Connect” Wi-Fi hotspots are in parking lots at schools and other community centers so that people can use the service whether in their cars or outside – while still observing U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention social distancing guidelines. The hotspots are in several areas across Chattanooga’s urban core as well as in some of the county’s more rural areas, such as Soddy-Daisy.