Expanding Access | eKnox Collaborates with KCS, Community Partners to Close Digital Gap

The eKnox Task Force, a coalition of business, community and government leaders, began in May with a singular goal – ensure Knox County Schools’ students had a computer connected to the Internet so they could continue to learn should their school close. That need had become apparent when schools suddenly shuttered this past March as the COVID-19 pandemic began and the digital divide – the education gap between households who are not technology-enabled and those who are – became glaringly evident.

When Knox County Schools received federal funds to respond to the pandemic, Superintendent Bob Thomas successfully pushed for $7 million to purchase Chromebooks and tablets for each of its 60,000 students.That left the task force to concentrate on the Internet access dilemma. But the window was closing to solve that problem as COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths rose throughout the summer, resulting in parents of 16,000 students choosing to have their students taught virtually instead of in a school building. 

The task force’s enthusiasm and commitment never wavered, however, and by July a plan was crafted to distribute information about low-cost programs from all carriers, many of whom were in the process of extending pandemic-related plans for the remainder of 2020. Nearly 4,000 households’ Internet access could be subsidized through Comcast’s Internet Essentials, or should that service be unavailable, with hotspots from carriers under state contract.

Chris Letsos, president and CEO of the Knox Education Foundation, the successor organization to Great Schools Partnership, stepped up to serve as fiscal agent and work with the school system to deploy the services.

Matt Ryerson, president & CEO of the United Way of Greater Knoxville, recommended a $150,000 grant to its COVID-19 Response Fund’s volunteer leaders, who approved the allocation. Knox County Mayor Glen Jacobs recommended a $100,000 grant, which County Commission approved; and Knoxville Mayor Indya Kincannon is recommending the same level of support to City Council. That plan is now in motion, while Knox Education Foundation continues to seek donations.

NEXT STEPS

Telecommunications providers do not disclose their service areas, or potential ones, for proprietary reasons. Knox County Schools put its transportation call center to work in May conducting a random county-wide survey by phone. Using those results, estimates are that 15 percent of 40,000 Knox County Schools households (6,000) do not currently have wired Internet service. Half of those households qualify for low-income services, while another 800 households do not have access to any wired service.

The data showed households without Internet service broadly distributed throughout Knox County. The resumption of school in late August will reveal the accuracy of those numbers.

By mid-August, fewer than 1,000 households had requested assistance through a hotline operated by Knox County Schools. Thousands of fliers were distributed at schools and to organizations who work with low-income households. WJBE, Jammin’ 99.7, aired 30-second public service announcements and a host of other media covered the news. When all households in need are counted to the best ability, the eKnox Task Force will resume its work.

Brandon Bruce, a Knoxville entrepreneur, and Nancy Nabors, director of regional enhancement at the Knoxville Chamber, are leading a technical working group that will examine the data and consider alternatives to serving households more affordably. eWhile other telecommunications companies have programs for low-income households, Comcast is the only provider who is participating in the subsidized effort as it offered a single-payer option to the Knox Education Foundation.

Knoxville is one of the first markets to take advantage of the new initiative from Comcast, which also bumped up broadband service to its high-speed platform with its Internet Essentials package, gave new customers two months free through the end of 2020 and forgives any back debt so more families can apply.

Andres Celedon, external affairs manager of Comcast, committed to the eKnox Task Force before the official announcement, enabling the program to be ready for the start of Knox County schools and Knoxville to be one of the first markets to take advantage of the program.

Celedon will continue as part of the eKnox Task Force, to continue to seek ways to extend affordable broadband service to all Knox County households, a goal of the Knoxville Chamber’s Path to Prosperity five-year strategic plan.

The technical working group includes Knoxville Utilities Board, Comcast, AT&T and other telecommunications providers, as well as Knoxville companies working on the cutting edge of telecommunications innovations, including Avero Advisors, iRis Networks, Strata-G and Windstream.

The eKnox Task Force will continue to work to build support and engage new partners to work towards 100 percent broadband access, a goal that would also benefit higher education, workforce development, health care delivery and services that allow disabled and senior individuals to live independently. If you would like to be part of the effort in any way, please contact Nancy Nabors at [email protected].