GCS Opens Saturday Internet Hubs For Students

School districts across North Carolina are trying to find ways to help kids who are still struggling with internet access during remote learning. Guilford County Schools is opening up some buildings to provide access on the weekends.

The Saturday internet hubs are being held in about half of the district's 127 schools. They will operate 9 a.m. to noon on September 12 and 19. After that, the district will reevaluate participation to see if they will continue or if more of these sites are needed.

Certified GCS employees will be on hand and students will need to bring their own devices. Tony Watlington is chief of schools for the district.

“We will be practicing social distancing," Watlington says. "There will be no more than 30 students or their parents to be in the buildings at one time and we are excited that all 60 of these school staffs and administrators volunteered their facilities.”

Watlington says the Saturday hubs are in addition to several Learning Centers that are already open Monday-Friday.

Guilford County Schools is still waiting to receive more than 78,000 devices it ordered in late July. Watlington says the school system is accepting device donations from the community to help fill the gap in the meantime.

So far, around 88 percent of GCS students have logged on for remote learning this semester.  

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