Cobb County students learning remotely will now be able to access a reliable internet connection to complete their school work.
The Cobb County School District on Wednesday will dispatch 27 buses outfitted with Wi-Fi technology to various areas around the county for students to use during the week. The buses will be parked in 23 locations so students can use the internet from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Cobb schools note four places will require two buses due to the number of students enrolled in area schools.
The Georgia Department of Education provided funding for the school district to implement the project. A list of bus locations can be found on the district’s website.
Cobb schools said the program will serve students who have difficulty participating in virtual learning due to limited or no access to the internet. The locations were determined by the school district examining the use and access to its remote learning program.
Cobb County schools finished the 2019-2020 school year with virtual learning due to the coronavirus pandemic and began the task of providing students with the devices they need to do their assignments remotely. The 2020-21 school year began Aug. 17 with remote learning.
Cobb County has distributed more than 300 hotspots to families and almost 40,000 laptops for remote learning. The district has received about 38,000 requests for devices this school year and about 35,000 have been retrieved. Cobb County says about 3,400 devices are still waiting to be picked up by families.