With months of remote instruction already behind New Jersey schools, significant gaps still exist in providing students access to technology and technological equipment, such as laptops, tablets, hot spot access devices, and other electronic mobile devices. Many New Jersey students and their families do not have the means to purchase such items or do not have access to the internet at home.
As New Jersey prepares to reopen schools for the 2020-2021 school year, employing hybrid schedules of both in-person and continued remote learning, and new options guaranteed for full-time remote learning “closing the digital divide” has achieved new urgency.
Efforts to close this gap by individual districts have so far been extremely variable.
In Paterson, most of the district’s 29,000 students had no way to learn online when schools closed. They were sent home with paper packets of review work, which for months, their parents had to pick up and drop off. Volunteers sorted through and compiled returning packets into a central database to record whether students had completed them. Grading them became time and cost prohibitive and was foregone.
In Camden, where only about 30 percent of students had internet access and a device when schools shut down, the district managed to provide access to almost all of its students through philanthropic efforts of its own and with community partnerships.
On July 16, Governor Murphy announced a systemic administrative response.
The Administration’s approach to closing the digital divide is three-pronged and consists of the following:
- The New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA) released a Request for Information (RFI), seeking information and ideas to bridge the digital divide for New Jersey’s pre-K-to-12 students, including philanthropic support from companies and organizations to help close the digital divide in public schools. The RFI is available here [https://www.njeda.com/pdfs/rfps/2020-RFI-OET-COVID19-109/2020-RFI-OET-Covid19-Digitaldivide-109.aspx] and interested parties had until July 31, 2020 to respond. District information from the New Jersey Department of Education (DOE) will help connect school districts in need with identified philanthropic partners and potential solutions.
- The Department of Education (DOE) will offer a one-time $10 million formula grant using a portion of the State’s federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds. This funding will be disbursed to public school districts to purchase digital devices and internet connectivity for one-to-one student use based on need and the availability of philanthropic donations. Districts will be required to submit an application to DOE, which will be released next week, and demonstrate a plan for appropriate use of funds.
- After philanthropy and ESSER Fund grants have been exhausted, the Administration will redirect Coronavirus Relief Fund (CRF) funds to close any remaining gap and fill the unmet digital device and internet connectivity needs of New Jersey students. Up to $44 million in CRF funds will be available for this purpose, with an additional $6 million available for nonpublic schools. Because of the ongoing and unparalleled financial strain the COVID-19 pandemic has created across the board in the State, it is critical to exhaust philanthropic opportunities and CARES Act funding prior to filling remaining gaps with CRF funds. This will ensure that CRF funds can be efficiently directed to address as many critical needs as possible.
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