During the Monterey County Board of Supervisors meeting on Tuesday, August 18, 2020, the Board of Supervisors took a bold step to approve one million dollars to address the digital divide in Monterey County. One million dollars will be put toward device and connectivity needs for Monterey County students as they engage in distance learning.
At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Monterey County Office of Education formed a Digital Divide Task Force to address increased technology needs placed upon students to implement and continue distance learning. The mission of the Task Force is to, “Ensure every student in Monterey County has the ability to participate in high quality online distance learning by providing access to the devices and connectivity needed for success.”
After several months of fundraising, the Task Force raised just over $529,000. These funds were used to purchase over 1,300 devices for students throughout Monterey County.
Through continuous surveys, MCOE has determined there are still thousands of students across school districts that do not have access to appropriate devices or an adequate connection to the internet. In many cases it is both. Districts have already deployed all resources available to place devices in the hands of the students, but it is not enough to close the gap.
As we begin the 2020-21 school year, there are still over 8,200 students from Monterey County schools and districts who do not have access to a device in the home and 10,000 students who do not have connectivity to the internet in the home. The efforts to close the digital divide amount to over three ($3) million. There are 77,387 public K-12 students in Monterey County.
After a presentation to the Board of Supervisors during their August 18, 2020 meeting where Dr. Guss shared the enormous needs of students, the Board approved one ($1) million dollars of the County CARES funding to go toward the digital divide.
“We know that there won’t be a silver bullet answer to bridging the equity gap when it comes to the digital divide, but this is our way of partnering to create solutions,” said Chair of the Board of Supervisors Chris Lopez. “Our kids will always be our greatest investment, we are committed to putting action behind these words.”
“Monterey County Supervisors recognized a great need to help our students obtain internet access and devices to continue their learning during this pandemic,” said Monterey County Supervisor Luis Alejo. “We are proud to team up with Superintendent Guss to get these resources out soon to those who need it the most and help bridge the digital divide in our county.”
“We are grateful beyond words to the Board of Supervisors for recognizing this tremendous need,” said Dr. Deneen Guss, Monterey County Superintendent of Schools. “This money will propel our efforts forward to continue purchasing devices and exploring options for connectivity for our Monterey County students to ensure they can meaningfully and actively engage in high-quality distance learning opportunities.”
Those interested in donating to the Digital Divide Task Force’s efforts can contact Dr. Colleen Stanley at cstanley@montereycoe.org or 831-755-0308.