Lack of broadband in Manchester holds consequences for students across the county
As schools have shut down due to COVID-19 in Washtenaw County, no schools in the Washtenaw Intermediate School District are currently offering online classes. Districts can’t require coursework unless all of their students can access that coursework, and so when portions of a district lack broadband internet access, internet-based schooling can’t happen. Manchester’s high percentage of students without broadband internet access means online classwork isn’t an option, and Washtenaw Intermediate School District’s commitment to equity across the county, takes this off the table for all districts.
Across the nation and around the world, schools are switching to online instruction as schools close to slow the spread of COVID-19. Manchester schools closed for three weeks as of Friday, March 13th and many families assumed online assignments were coming. The school district then clarified; there are no assignments for the next three weeks.
Why are there no online assignments? Because many students in Manchester do not have broadband access at home.
Manchester’s superintendent Kevin Upton stated in a letter to families, “It is illegal to provide anything less than equitable access to education for all children in our district. All of the children within our community do not have access to the internet at home. We have been informed that if our schools provide virtual instruction, the district is responsible for ensuring that all students have internet access.”
For now, that means no assignments at all.
How many families living in the Manchester school district don’t have broadband access? The best estimate is 2/3 of Manchester students do not have broadband in their homes. (Broadband is defined as 25 megabits per second download and 3 megabits per second upload, which is the FCC standard for an internet connection to be considered broadband.) And while the disparity in internet access between students in the district was already a serious concern before COVID-19, it now affects all students in the district.
Ben Fineman, vice-chair of the Washtenaw County Broadband Taskforce stated, “As schools around the state determine how to respond to COVID-19, many struggle with maintaining equity and access in districts where a significant number of students lack broadband (high speed internet) access at home. These districts must walk the line of providing supplemental materials for students to use at home while schools are closed, while not providing materials that cover new subject areas for fear of leaving behind those students who cannot access the materials. Both students with and without broadband can be penalized when a significant percentage of students in a district lack access.”
Fineman is specifically talking about Manchester Schools. He goes on to point out, “In Washtenaw County, levels of broadband access across districts can be in sharp contrast. For example, in the Ann Arbor school district only 1.5% of household lack access to broadband. But in the Manchester School District, 66.6%, or two out of three households lack access to broadband.”
The following is the coverage data for each district in the Washtenaw Intermediate School District, according to data from Connect Michigan compiled July, 2018:
Ann Arbor: 1.5% (1004 households) unserved at 25Mb/3Mb
Chelsea: 37% (2326 households) unserved at 25Mb/3Mb
Dexter: 8% (578 households) unserved at 25Mb/3Mb
Lincoln: 2.3% (254 households) unserved at 25Mb/3Mb
Manchester: 66.6% (1916 households) unserved at 25Mb/3Mb
Milan: 20.2% (988 households) unserved at 25Mb/3Mb
Saline: 9.4% (899 households) unserved at 25Mb/3Mb
Whitmore Lake: 2.7% (96 households) unserved at 25Mb/3Mb
Ypsilanti: 2.3% (558 households) unserved at 25Mb/3Mb
Based on this data, the natural assumption might be that students in Manchester will not be able to receive online instruction, while students in other Washtenaw Districts will, and our students in our district will fall behind. But this is not the case. No students in Washtenaw public schools have assignments over the next three weeks.
The Washtenaw Superintendents Association released the following statement, “Please know that issues of equity are at the forefront of our minds. Schools are a place where students find a sense of safety, support, and a world of new opportunities, and this closure exposes deep inequities across our county and community. In order to honor our commitment to equitable and inclusive education, we must ensure that all students in our classrooms have a way to connect to and engage with any enrichment and enhanced learning provided by our schools.”
Currently all of the schools in the county are figuring out how to teach if the closure is extended beyond April 6, something most school officials think is likely, including State Superintendent Michael Rice. And these plans are taking into account the students with no broadband access.
The Washtenaw Superintendents Association statement continued, “We are engaging in ongoing planning in the event of a prolonged school closure. This planning includes looking at ways to ensure all students have ways to access formal instructional support and educational programming in the event that school closures last beyond April 6, 2020. Over the next few weeks, we will be working with our technology directors, teacher leaders, administrators, families and others to determine the most inclusive and equitable ways to deliver instruction to all our students.”
Upton reassured families that education in Manchester will continue in some form. “Our school leadership team is crafting a Learning Continuity Plan (LCP) that will help to address the litany of issues we will continue to face while implementing a remote learning environment," he said. "The future holds many uncertainties for our nation's school systems and the respective calendar of events. However, I am certain that our community will continue to protect and educate all of the children we serve.”
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