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Salem-Keizer will provide home internet for thousands of families as distance learning begins

Angel Gallardo takes two Chromebooks from instructional assistant Marissa Vraafladt during a distribution event at McKay High School on Thursday, April 2. (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter)

The Salem-Keizer School District will hand out more laptops to students and plans to pay for at-home internet service for thousands of families as educators plan for remote classes beginning next week.

Students who still need to borrow a district Chromebook can pick one up at any of the six high schools Friday, April 10, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Families can pre-register using this form. Adults don’t need to bring students with them to pick up the computers, so long as they have the students’ ID numbers.

Educators and volunteers last week distributed more than 20,000 Chromebooks over two days, causing traffic jams as families waited, sometimes over an hour, to pick up the computers.

The distribution drew concerns from some neighbors about social distancing, particularly at North Salem High School, where a long line formed on the sidewalk.

District spokeswoman Lillian Govus said Friday’s distribution will have well-marked lines for families and more strict enforcement of social distancing guidelines.

“We’re going to continue trying to improve,” she said.

Teachers last week reached out the district’s 41,000 students, checking on how they were faring with schools closed and seeing what help they might need to begin online classes.

Through those calls, the district identified 1,800 students without home internet access, Govus said.

“We know that it’s probably a lot more than what we’re able to identify,” she said.

The district originally planned to distribute wi-fi hotspots to families in need, but is now working on a contract with an Internet provider to pay directly for families to have home internet while schools are closed because the internet speed from hotspots is typically too slow to stream videos, which will be a component of classes going forward.

Govus said they expect to provide that help for about 2,500 families.

School employees will keep working to find students who need help and refer them to the district’s technology office to get set up, she said.

Contact reporter Rachel Alexander at [email protected] or 503-575-1241.

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Rachel Alexander is Salem Reporter’s managing editor. She joined Salem Reporter when it was founded in 2018 and covers city news, education, nonprofits and a little bit of everything else. She’s been a journalist in Oregon and Washington for a decade. Outside of work, she’s a skater and board member with Salem’s Cherry City Roller Derby and can often be found with her nose buried in a book.