Alcona Community Schools teams up with Lakeshore Broadband to provide free internet
LINCOLN, Mich. — In an effort to keep in communication with students, Alcona Community Schools is partnering up with Lakeshore Broadband to provide free internet access for 90 days. Schools in Michigan have been officially closed for two weeks so far and won’t open again until at least April 14.
Although Alcona schools have been trying to put out academic materials for their students, not everyone has the ability to get online from their home. “Alcona County is very challenged in terms of high speed internet,” said Superintendent of Alcona Schools, Dan O’Connor. “We’re lucky to have Lakeshore Broadband. We reached out to them to discuss how to increase some internet access for our students in case that the school closure goes on longer than it’s currently scheduled.”
Alcona Schools recently sent out a survey to parents in order to get a feel for who has access to the internet. “Fifty percent of the students have either data caps or internet that’s too slow to sustain online learning at home,” said O’Connor. “We had to figure out a way to support some more families. Obviously we probably won’t be able to reach quite everybody and Lakeshore doesn’t service the entire county, but it does service a chunk and that’s better than nothing.”
The service does not come with a contract but there is an installation fee. To find out if you’re in their coverage area, call Lakeshore Broadband at (989) 739–5202 or visit their website at lsbb.net.
