South Bend Schools Experiment With Wi-Fi On School Buses
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — The South Bend Community School Corporation is going above and beyond to make sure their students are able to get their school work done whenever they find time to do it.
Supt. Todd Cummings said they have spent some extra cash in their general fund to install Wi-Fi on twenty of their school buses. With much of their students’ learning down on the Internet, Cummings said students need to have access to the Internet as much as possible.
“We know our students are spending a lot of time on school buses,” Cummings said. “So we thought: ‘Let’s take a big risk. Is there a way to increase academics and increase the time students have to do their homework on the bus?’.”
He said it’s been successful so far with many students taking advantage of it, especially athletes who spend a lot of time on the bus after school going to and from athletic events.
The school district’s transportation director, Renee Sanchez, said another part of the plan is to park buses that are equipped with Wi-Fi in parts of South Bend over the weekends where students do not have access to the Internet. He added that only South Bend students can access the Wi-Fi through the laptops and other devices they are provided with by the district.
Sanchez added they have a plan to expand the number of buses with Wi-Fi by applying for a federal grant.
“We are hoping that will cover most of the costs moving forward,” he said. “Plus, what we are already doing is as we order new buses through our bus replacement plan, we are just including (Wi-Fi) in the cost of the bus replacement.”
If all goes well with the federal grant, both men hope to have every bus in the district’s fleet equipped with Wi-Fi.
(PHOTO: Thinkstock)
