Over 2,000 in Allentown district to get free internet

T-Mobile partners with schools to provide access

Allentown School District is partnering with T-Mobile to make sure children of all backgrounds have reliable access to the internet, which has become especially vital during the pandemic as ASD students take classes entirely online.

At Thursday’s School Board committee-meeting-of-the-whole held remotely, it was announced that ASD will tap into T-Mobile’s 10 Million Project, enabling 2,025 households in the district to receive high-speed internet access with wireless hot spots and free unlimited data. The access plan is expected to be available to the district for five years.

Superintendent Thomas Parker hailed the partnership as an important step in reducing “the digital divide” in which well-off students have laptops and consistent internet service while low-income students do not.

Board President Nancy Wilt thanked T-Mobile “for providing the opportunity for districts across the country that allows us to get closer to filling the gap.”

Shane Brody, senior government and education specialist at T-Mobile, said the arrangement is about equity.

“I don’t think your ZIP code should predetermine what sort of internet access you should have,” he said.

The program is expected to cost a maximum of $365,500, which ASD expects to be paid by grants.

In other business, the board heard from several parents weighing in on ASD’s plan to continue holding classes online through the school year’s third quarter ending

April 13.

A few parents who spoke up were adamantly against continuing schooling remotely, complaining that their children felt isolated and stressed and that they weren’t learning much and were falling behind.

Other parents, including some with children or family members that would be especially vulnerable to COVID-19, thanked the district for keeping classes online. They praised their children’s teachers for doing an excellent job.

Parker said that when comparing ASD’s plan with what other school districts are doing, people should look at urban districts such as Harrisburg and Reading and less at the smaller suburban districts in the Lehigh Valley.

“When you look at other urban districts our size, you’ll see some similarities in terms of the approach,” Parker said. ASD has several older schools where social distancing would be difficult, he said.

“We have buildings that were built during the Ulysses S. Grant administration,” Parker said.

Bill Moyer, president of St. Luke’s University Health Network’s West Region and Allentown Campus, and Rajika Reed, senior network director of epidemiology and strategy, told school directors that COVID-19 cases in Lehigh County are spiking. Moyer said they are seeing more children needing hospitalization.

School Director Lisa Conover said her extended family has been ravaged by COVID-19.

“We’re trying to keep our kids safe,” she said. “I’m not going to choose education over their health.”