Idaho Business for Education has a way to help solve this problem.
“Many homes…can’t afford connectivity or cannot get connectivity,“ said Aaron Johnson, the chief financial officer for Bateman Hall Construction, and a partner and contributor to IBE.
IBE started an initiative that allows people to donate to help students without online learning resources. Anyone can go to http://www.idahocf.org/funds/internet to either donate money or an electronic device that would allow a student to connect to online class meetings.
People can donate online, which would go into a general pool that helps school districts throughout the state. You or your business can also donate to a specific school district by calling the regional representative in which you live.
Johnson said that in Eastern Idaho, school districts need funds to install more internet lines.
“We’ve got, literally, several thousand homes in Eastern Idaho that need internet connectivity,” Johnson said.
Johnson said that a lot of the funds donated go to helping school districts purchase hotspots from cellular companies, allowing them to connect more homes to the internet.
Whether you have a device you may not use that much, or if you have the means to give a little to help students get online, this initiative will help kids get the education they need during this trying time and beyond.
According to IBE, $100 can provide one home internet connectivity for the next two months.
If you wish to donate to the general pool for schools in Idaho, click here.
If you wish to donate to a specific school district in Eastern Idaho, call Aaron Johnson at (208) 221-7349.
“[We need to] get this emergency taken care of in these last few months of school,” Johnson said