COLUMBIA, S.C. — The South Carolina Office of Regulatory Staff (ORS) and the South Carolina Department of Education and the Commission on Higher Education (CHE) have started the process to distribute mobile hotspots and monthly internet to at least 100,000 South Carolina households.
According to the release, the agencies hope to distribute these services through December 2020 to help children who will be going back to school.
RELATED: Internet hotspots, wired internet service coming to at least 100K household for students across SC
School districts and educational institutions have until August 5 to return orders for these hotspots.
According to the release, priority is being given to those districts that have been identified by the South Carolina Department of Education as having a poverty rate greater than or equal to 86 percent.
According to the agencies, the ORS has worked with wireless providers to secure up to 200,000 hotspots for South Carolina in anticipation of demand.
Each hotspot will have security installed in compliance with the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA). Schools will have the ability to block or unblock sites.
Depending on the student's need, wired internet may be available as well.
As part of the authorization of the CARES Act funding, schools – public school districts as well as private schools, special schools, charter schools, private colleges, universities, or technical colleges – are responsible for distributing the mobile hotspots to eligible households. To the extent schools can provide the addresses of qualifying households, the best available option can be determined, such as a hotspot or broadband internet access.