QUESTION
How many students still lack devices and internet access for remote learning?
0:40:50
·
178 sec
Emma Vadehra details the DOE's distribution of approximately 2 million devices for remote learning but does not provide a specific number of students still lacking access.
- Approximately 700,000 devices have been distributed to students directly, and schools hold over 1 million devices. - DOE has taken proactive measures to ensure device availability, including preparing for remote learning pivots. - Guidance issued to principals in January instructs on distributing school-owned devices in emergencies. - The effort aims to mitigate any lack of access for students without devices at home.
Shahana K. Hanif
0:40:50
And then my understanding is that The DOE distributed hundreds of thousands of Internet enabled devices to students support remote learning ahead of February 13th.
0:41:06
How many students in the public school system still lack access to devices and Internet access us.
Emma Vadehra
0:41:17
So I can tell you what we sort of what we know and then can try and we can we can do our best to talk through the rest.
0:41:24
So over the past few years, and my colleagues here, including actually Shaquille, who was at New York City Public Schools begin the pandemic can speak to this.
0:41:33
Over the past few years, we've distributed about 700,000 devices to students in our system and we actually we had a we had a lot of them.
0:41:42
I heard the public advocate mentioned this.
0:41:43
We've now pushed those all out into the system.
0:41:46
So actually, as part of preparing as part of our preparation for remote this year, the we pushed out all the rest of those devices to schools who requested them for the families they saw.
0:41:57
So that's one of the things we've done to put devices out.
0:41:59
In addition to that, and I'm calling on Joel to check me if this is wrong, schools have a number of their own devices.
0:42:06
In total over a 1,000,000 of their own devices.
0:42:09
We think that sit with school and we think meaning that's what we can track that sit with school.
0:42:13
So in total, in our system, there's about 2,000,000 devices between schools and families.
0:42:19
One of the things we started doing actively this fall, which Scott referenced in which others could speak to as well, is as part of preparation to remote, we actually started doing far more aggressive.
0:42:29
What do we know about who has devices?
0:42:31
Who doesn't?
0:42:32
How we can push out that last small set we have centrally to make sure they're in people's hands.
0:42:37
And then how can we make sure Schools understand that they have their own over a 1,000,000 devices, that they might not want to send home every single day.
0:42:46
But in the case of a pivot to remote an emergency situation, they can send those home.
0:42:51
Right?
0:42:51
And because we know we don't have more devices at central.
0:42:54
Those are out, but we know schools have over a million devices, and they can send those home.
0:42:58
So that's a piece of the work we did working with our division of school leadership, our superintendents and our principals to say, these are the students that have central devices.
0:43:07
These are students who have said they have an at home device.
0:43:12
And then how can you work to ensure all the other students in your school?
0:43:16
Can take home one of these devices you have in the case of an emergency situation like a pivot to remote We put out guidance to principles in January, making clear that that's something they should be preparing to do.
0:43:29
In the case of a pivot to remote situation, there was a little bit of question of whether they were allowed to do it.
0:43:33
We said you are allowed to do it.
0:43:35
In fact, you should do it.
0:43:36
Because we are expecting you to do that, we're gonna commit to you that we will let you know by 11 AM the day before if we are going to pivot to remote.
0:43:44
So you have time to send those devices home.
0:43:47
Wait.