Title
Digital Divide Solutions for Under-Served Areas
Description
This report provides an overview of the challenges and potential solutions related to the digital divide in the City of Phoenix that has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. This report also outlines the partnerships and concepts that could help provide digital access/connectivity to all areas of the City served by Phoenix Union High School District (PUHSD) and related community colleges, to remove the digital divide and provide equitable educational, training and workforce opportunities. Further, through a long-term plan, provide a path for all other Phoenix school districts that are challenged by the digital divide, even if it is only a small area of the service territory.
THIS ITEM IS FOR INFORMATION AND DISCUSSION.
Report
Summary
Many areas of the country have little or no access/connection to the internet, including areas in the City of Phoenix and throughout Arizona. Even when there is internet availability, economic barriers prevent many residents from accessing the internet. The digital divide is defined as the economic, educational, and social inequalities between those who have computers and online access and those who do not. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the gap in the digital divide has become wider and wider. Households that have internet connection provide the opportunity for their children to continue their education at home during a time when schools are closed. Whereas households without internet connection are not able to provide a learning opportunity for their children at home and must use available internet connections in other places, or they are not able to provide educational opportunities for their children at all. Students in under-served areas have struggled with continuing their education during the pandemic, with limited to no access to connectivity, whether Wi-Fi or other types of telecommunication services.
Studies have shown that some school districts have greater access to Wi-Fi and data, further causing challenges in securing educational opportunities for students in under-served areas both during typical at-home studies during the traditional school year, but more importantly when school is not in session, as has been the case during the pandemic. During the COVID-19 pandemic, significant numbers of students had no access to the internet. Even if their educational institutions provided tablets/computers to families and students to do their schoolwork, there was not an internet connection for them to be able to log on to participate in the educational programs. Further, internet connections that families have used in the past such as libraries, community centers, restaurants and other public facilities have been closed during the pandemic. We have seen national news stories with pictures of children sitting in fast-food parking lots to gain access to Wi-Fi to do their schoolwork. This is causing not only the educational gap to widen, but it is causing the future workforce to fall behind in skills that will be necessary to drive job creation in the future.
To overcome these challenges, school districts were forced to become very creative in order to provide educational programs and services to their students during the pandemic. They implemented significant and creative workarounds to ensure students and adults have connectivity and to fill the connectivity gaps in under-served areas of the City including:
- Purchased hundreds of hotspots, creating internet access points that allow connection to a Wi-Fi network
- Turned parking lots into Wi-Fi service areas for students to use computers to complete their schoolwork
- Equipped school buses that were deployed across the City to provide mobile hotspots
The City Council also helped with this effort by approving Coronavirus Relief Fund dollars to install free internet access on the outside of all of the City's nearly 50 libraries, and community and recreation centers throughout Phoenix. School-aged children, and all residents, can be connected from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily.
School districts and colleges across the region have not only purchased large numbers of hotspots, but they have also provided individual devices to students in an effort to close critical gaps for as many students as possible.
While these efforts have provided an extremely effective solution temporarily, a long-term solution is needed to permanently solve the digital inequity that exists in areas of the City.
On a commercial scale, telecommunications providers have implemented low-cost solutions for families that do not have internet connection. Unfortunately, any cost at all can create an economic hardship for low-income families, especially during this time as parents have been furloughed, or have lost their jobs. Parents are making tough choices about how to keep their homes and how to provide food for their families, while also keeping their children engaged in their education.
Digital Divide Solution:
On May 14, 2020, City Council approved the allocation of $2 million from the Coronavirus Relief Fund to broaden Citywide Wi-Fi. Shortly thereafter, a core public and private group came together to discuss long-term solutions for the digital divide in Phoenix. Members of the core group included the City of Phoenix, Phoenix College (PC), PUHSD, the Greater Phoenix Economic Council (GPEC) and the Arizona Commerce Authority (ACA). Over the past few months, hardware and software concepts have been researched and continue to be tested as potential solutions that could be installed. It is important to note that these solutions to provide digital access are for educational purposes only.
The concept being investigated is for Wi-Fi digital access that will provide the connectivity needed to access the internet for educational purposes; it does not include computers or equipment inside the home. This would include connection to already existing school fiber/internet connections and will be at no cost to families.
In order to determine the needs of each area, 11 elementary school IT departments have been intimately involved to help determine their individual needs. Further, PC has taken the lead to compile not only the data provided by the elementary schools but has mined valuable U.S. Census and coverage data that has proven to be invaluable in creating an impactful coverage plan. The elementary schools for the first phase include:
- Alhambra Elementary School District
- Balsz Elementary School District
- Cartwright Elementary School District
- Creighton Elementary School District
- Isaac Elementary School District
- Murphy Elementary School District
- Osborn Elementary School District
- Phoenix Elementary School District
- Riverside Elementary School District
- Roosevelt Elementary School District
- Wilson Elementary School District
In partnership with PC, PUHSD, and under an existing contract with the City’s ITS Department, equipment options are being researched, which will include a Request for Proposals (RFP) for equipment and installation options that will be forthcoming. These options include both physical hardware for connections and secure authentication connections (software) that would provide the link directly into the educational institution, as though the student were on campus. This will also prevent families from using the internet system for anything except the ability to log on to their school and do their schoolwork.
In order to test the options quickly, a Micro-Proof of Concept (POC) is underway on the PC campus. The recommended proposer of the future RFP will validate if this is the right solution or if there is a better solution for long-term application.
At the completion of the Micro-POC and RFP, the same equipment will be transferred to the Cartwright School District and will be reinstalled on a quarter square mile area to be tested in real-world application with the School District and its students utilizing the system to fully test the equipment in a daily online learning environment. The final proof of concept will be on a larger test in a combination area of the Cartwright and Alhambra School districts.
Should the final POC return positive results, the installation of the final 166 square miles will be accommodated by a future procurement.
In order to create this formal partnership, an Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) is being drafted to be considered by all participants.
One of the expenses incurred while installing a network system of this nature is the cost of physical property on which to install the telecommunications equipment. Cities, school districts and community colleges have significant amounts of real estate that can be used at no cost for the installation of this infrastructure, helping to create a robust network infrastructure at well-placed locations and distances in the radius required to provide uninterrupted connection. These properties are currently being evaluated for potential use. City street poles may also be used to house and connect the physical infrastructure requirements of the system.
City staff will continue to refine this concept in the coming 30 days. Ultimately, a playbook would be created that would showcase a path to provide a robust digital network, removing the digital divide that separates under-served communities from more affluent areas of the city.
Department
Responsible Department
This item is submitted by Deputy City Managers Jeff Barton and Toni Maccarone, and the Community and Economic Development and Information Technology Services departments.