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WAIMEA MIDDLE ;
A WASC Accredited Public Conversion Charter School thru June 2027 '
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67-1229 MAMALAHOA HIGHWAY KAMUELA,HAWAII 96743
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February 15, 2021
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Haw' ai'i tCouncil
Resolution 43-21 —STRONGLY SUPPORTING DIGITAL EQUITY AND URGING
DEVELOPMENT ROA BAND INFRASTRUCTURE TO BOLSTER COVID-19
RECOVERY AND FOSTER ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Aloha Council Chair David, Resolution Introducers Ms. Kimball and Ms. Kierkiewicz, and fellow
Council Members:
As a public conversion charter school, we strongly support this resolution and its sense of urgency
because of the extreme challenges encountered by our students, families and teachers due to
Covid-required school closure and extended distance learning.
In pre-Covid times, we knew many families had limited connectivity but when forced to pivot to all
distance learning, we were stunned by how pervasive the issues were. While we were fortunate to
have secured grants and private donor funding several years back for Chromebooks—enough to
loan one out for each of our 234 students-we didn't realize how many wouldn't have stable, reliable
internet access at home.
Our families face a number of issues. Among the most notable are that some live in "digital deserts"
where there is simply no service. Many more struggle to afford it. Pre-pandemic, about 70% of our
6t"-8t" grade families were eligible for Free/Reduced Lunch. Today, we believe this percentage is
closer to 80% due to the large number of families whose income was dependent on some aspect of
the visitor industry.
HIDOE did give us five Mifis which worked in some areas, not all. But we have 234 students—five
didn't go very far. To their credit, Spectrum (Charter Communications)and Sandwich Isle both
offered some assistance but were not able to address some locational obstacles. We even started a
mobile wifi help desk/tutoring program to provide reliable internet connectivity for a pod of highly
vulnerable children in a low income rental apartment complex. This has worked well for these
children but we do not have funding to recreate this solution in at least two or three other areas that
urgently need this kind of connectivity support.
While we sincerely hope to be able to bring more students back to campus soon we believe some
kind of hybrid programming that blends in-person and distance learning will continue to be "the
norm" for some time to come. And even then, reliable connectivity will be critical. Please do all that
you can to address this expeditiously. Our children and families—as well as businesses - urgently
need reliable broadband infrastructure.
Mahalo,
Patti Cook, Development Director
AN AFFIRMATIVE ACTION AND EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER
www. i ffi rComm.
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