HCS EdConnect: Connecting families to no-cost, high-speed internet in Chattanooga

In the Hamilton County Schools district (which includes Chattanooga), roughly a third of the district’s 45,000 students did not have home access to stable internet. When COVID forced schools online, one in three students could not attend virtual class. Within days of COVID pushing schools to remote learning, Chattanooga leaders implemented an emergency solution: installing 98 Quick Connect hotspots providing residents with free high-speed internet. The hotspots were located in church and restaurant parking lots, outside community centers, laundromats, public housing courtyards, and other public gathering spots. While the hotspot solution provided students with the opportunity to download assignments — and offered broader community access — it was not a viable method for sustaining full-day, interactive learning. HCS EdConnect is a program that delivers high-speed internet to low-income public school students across Hamilton County at no cost to their families. This is done primarily by installing new routers and wiring in eligible families’ homes and then waiving all fees for ongoing service. Without EdConnect, thousands of families would not have been able to provide a stable enough internet connection for their children to participate in virtual learning during the pandemic. EdConnect looks beyond the pandemic, too, making a 10-year commitment to families in need (as long as a student is enrolled in the district). Through November 2021,15,368 students in 8,522 households had received in-home internet connections at no cost through EdConnect.