(INDIANAPOLIS) — Indy is making another move toward beefing up high-speed Internet for students.
A pilot program will create six broadband hotspots: four near schools in IPS and Perry and
Lawrence Townships, plus two charter schools. Students living within two miles of those schools will
have ready access to high-speed Internet. Once the administrative details are worked out, the plan is to cover the whole county, so students have access from home even after the pandemic.
Indianapolis Public Schools Superintendent Aleesia Johnson says the pandemic has added urgency
to what IPS already knew: more than a quarter of the city’s students don’t have adequate
broadband access at home. When schools locked down in the spring, IPS had to mail giant
packages of pencil-and-paper classwork to students. The district eventually was able to equip
students with MiFi home hotspot technology, but Johnson says there needs to be a more longterm
solution so IPS can use that money for other parts of the budget.
All schools are holding classes virtually for the remainder of December. Even after schools return to
in-person classes for good, Johnson says the digital divide needs to be closed so students can do
their homework and fill out college and financial aid applications.
Indianapolis previously announced it would open a handful of schools, community centers and
churches as high-speed Internet hubs to make sure students have adequate connections.
A combination of federal money and charitable grants will pay for hotspots for about two-thousand
students in IPS and Lawrence and Perry Townships, and at two charter schools. The goal is to
reach the whole county in 2022.
