East St. Louis Catholic school principal says students suffer without internet access
In the midst of the pandemic, the only Catholic school in East St. Louis lags behind others in keeping its students current on their lessons because of the lack of access to the internet.
Principal Dan Nickerson said the staff of Sister Thea Bowman Catholic School is trying to reach their students wherever they may be holed up while classrooms are closed due to the COVID-19, a contagious virus that attacks the respiratory system and has prompted governors across the county to shutter their states’ schools.
School administrators in some southwest Illinois districts have successfully offset in-person lessons with digital education.
In East St. Louis, many students don’t have ready access to the world wide web. And Sister Thea Bowman School doesn’t have the resources to provide it.
“A lot of the homes where the students are during the day don’t necessarily have internet services,” Nickerson said. “A lot of them have cell phones with hot spots. Also, lot of the parents are healthcare workers, Amazon or UPS drivers, and are working a lot of overtime hours to keep up with the demands created by the virus pandemic.”
Because the duration of Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s stay-at-home order remains unknown and the remainder of the school year hangs in the balance, Nickerson said the need to be able to reach the school’s 135 students remotely is critical.
He’s turning to providers like Charter, ATT, Spectrum, T-Mobile and others for help. All are offering free internet service temporarily for those under stay-at-home orders. But, even with available service, some students don’t have the devices they need to connect, Nickerson said.
Pritzker has ordered Illinois schools to remain closed through at least April 30. Missouri Gov. Mike Parson this week closed schools for the remainder of the school year.
“We don’t know when we will be able to reopen. We also don’t know what we can do with summer school or any early restart programs until we know when we can reopen,” Nickerson said. “Right now priority is trying to keep our students from falling behind.”
Sister Thea Bowman Catholic School has received assistance from from Innovative Technology Education Fund in St. Louis. Sprint also has provided 10 hot spot devices. More is needed, said Nickerson.
Some families of Sister Bowman students also have government phones, but Nickerson said he was not sure whether those phones are capable of connecting to the internet.
The school has 135 students in kindergarten through eighth grade classrooms, he said. Those without internet and remote access to their teachers are at a disadvantage.
Students at Thea Bowman are being issued packets that include assignments and basic explanations. Families are responsible for picking up and dropping off homework at the school and picking up new packets.
Not all parents have adequate transportation or workable schedules. Others need assistance understanding the assignments themselves, so they can help their children, said Nickerson.
“We will follow whatever the governor’s direction is for public schools,” he said. “Students, staff and family safety is paramount. We want to do whatever we can to make sure everybody is safe.”
In the meantime, Nickerson asks that anyone who can assist with hot spots or other internet devices call him at 618-397-0316.
This story was originally published April 15, 2020 at 9:59 AM with the headline "East St. Louis Catholic school principal says students suffer without internet access."
