OPS adding WiFi to entire bus fleet with help from $106k grant

October 19, 2021 | 12:11 am

Updated October 19, 2021 | 12:00 am

Photo by Ryan Richardson

Owensboro Public Schools will be able to outfit all of their district buses with WiFi and provide service for the next 10 months thanks to an Emergency Connectivity Fund grant worth just more than $106,000.

“When school was all virtual last year, we noticed that about 17% of our students did not have regular access to internet,” said OPS Public Information Officer Jared Revlett. “At the time, the district only had three vehicles equipped with WiFi that we used as hotspots at limited locations. This will allow the entire fleet of buses to be equipped with WiFi that will provide more opportunities for our students to have access to the internet.”

OPS had to apply for the grant, which covers all the devices and installation for the entire bus fleet. The WiFi will have all the same firewalls and blocks on it that it would have if the students were in the school buildings.

Revlett said by having WiFi on every bus, students who ride the bus could get an extra 30 minutes a day of internet access on average because the average bus routes are about 15 minutes to and from school.

It would additionally allow students riding the bus for a long trip — such as to and from a sporting event — an additional two or three hours of internet access to be able to complete homework and assignments.

Revlett said while the district hopes to never have to go virtual again, having WiFi on the buses allows OPS the ability to deploy many more buses as mobile hotspots. 

“We could park these in apartment complexes, church parking lots, or wherever we needed to be able to reach the majority of our students,” he said. 

Revlett said the buses could also be useful during the summer months.

“Obviously we know that there was a lot of learning loss that took place over the course of the past year,” he said. “We really put a big emphasis on summer programming this past summer. Much of that was virtual. With this we will be able to offer more potential summer programming for our students and, again, deploy these around different parts of town to be able to provide internet access to those students to do that summer programming work if they want to.”

While the current grant only covers up to 10 months, Revlett said OPS has applied for two additional grants that fall along the same lines. If awarded, those grants could allow OPS to extend that service.

October 19, 2021 | 12:11 am

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