Marietta schools to buy 100 Wi-Fi hot spots for students

Marietta students who don’t have internet access will soon get the technology they need to begin virtual classes when the school year starts next week.

Marietta school board members on Tuesday approved the purchase of 100 Verizon Wi-Fi hot spots at a cost not to exceed $54,000.

Marietta schools will begin the school year on Tuesday with remote learning due the uncertainty surrounding the continued rise in COVID-19 cases.

The devices will be for students who are new to the school system or need that connectivity when the new year begins, said spokeswoman Jen Brock. Those hot spots will be loaned to the students.

A week after the school system closed its doors March 16 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, school board members voted to purchase 700 Wi-Fi hot spots so students could access the internet from home. The district also outfitted several school buses with Wi-Fi hot spots with 5G cellular connections and parked them at various locations around the city so students could do their work.

Brock also said the system will also place seven school buses outfitted with those hot spots at the following locations from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday through Friday:

• Lassiter Drive mobile home park
• Dwell @ 555 apartments, 555 Little Street
• Clifton Ridge Townhomes, 676 Horizon Place
• Custer Park, 600 Kenneth E Marcus Way
• Dwell @ 750 apartments, 750 Franklin Gateway SE
• The Park on Windy Hill Apartments, 2121 Windy Hill Road SE
• Liberty Pointe Apartments, 707 Franklin Gateway SE