NEW PALESTINE, Ind. (WTHR) - A bus from Community School Corporation of Southern Hancock County sits empty in the parking lot of a former fire station on U.S. 40, waiting for students to arrive.
"For younger kids, their parents are able to drive and park in the areas of our school buses and access the internet so they can complete their digital e-Learning assignments,” said Wes Anderson, Community School Corporation of Southern Hancock County.
Students can't get on the bus, but the bus is equipped with a Wi-Fi router, providing a wireless connection for families who don't have internet access at home to park within 300 feet of the bus. The buses with Wi-Fi are parked in three locations from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays for the rest of the school year. These are the days the district is conducting e-Learning lessons through May 21.
The district wanted to have the Wi-Fi buses ready right after spring break in early April. But the three locations just went into service this week because of a shipping delay with the routers. 13News visited all three locations Wednesda,y but did not find anyone using the bus Wi-Fi.
"We're trying to make every accommodation, whether those resources are used or not,” said Anderson. “This is the first week for this, and I'm sure as things go along, we'll see some increased participation in that."
Wi-Fi service has also been expanded to the parking lots of Brandywine Elementary School, New Palestine Junior High School and New Palestine High School. A limited number of MiFi hotspots are also available for checkout from the district.
The Community School Corporation of Southern Hancock County has a one-to-one ratio with e-Learning devices, meaning every student in the district has a school-issued tablet or laptop computer. Kindergarten through fourth-grade students use iPads. Fifth grade through 12th grade use MacBooks. The district used e-Learning days previously intended for inclement weather or teacher development.
"The volume is new for us, obviously, having to do this every week,” said Anderson. "But the e-Learning process is not. Being one-to-one, this is our fifth year going through e-Learning."
The Wi-Fi only works with school-issued devices.