'It's been a real challenge': As students return to school, some still lack reliable internet (2025)

Amanda Ulrich|Palm Springs Desert Sun

Yvette Valdiviez'sfamily lives on a remote ranch in Thermal, an unincorporated community north of the Salton Sea,where it's always been a challenge to get standard internet servicefrom providers like Spectrum. When coronavirus hit, their lack of internetcreated extra stress.

With classes moved online, Valdiviez's two daughters — both students at Coachella Valley High School — used their cellphonesas personal hotspots tolog into virtual classes and complete assignments. They hoped their school district would, in the five months since the start of the pandemic, help them come up with a more reliable solution. But last week they startedthe new school yearwith their makeshift setup.

"(My daughters) arestressed out thatthey're not going to be able to connect right," she said. "Because thathotspot hasa little power, but it's not the best."

As thousands of studentsacross the regionresumeclasses virtually for the 2020-21 school year, reliable home internet continues to be a problem for many in Coachella Valley Unified School District. And across the valley, some families in Palm Springs Unified, which started earlier this month,are alsostruggling to connect.

More: First day of school for Desert Sands Unified School District begins with a glitch

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Despite both districts' efforts to hand out free mobile hotspot devices to students, some parents reportthat they still haven't received one or don't have a consistent connection at home with the internet they do have.

Valdiviezsaid she hasn't been able to get aCVUSD hotspot, despitemultiple attempts. Shewas recently told that her family was never added to a list, she said, though sheindicated in severalsurveys that they needed one.

Valdiviez hopes the family's current piecemeal connection won't have an impact on her daughters' education.Her youngest, a sophomore, is nervous because she's typically "on top of her game and always has straight As,"Valdiviez said. And her oldest, a senior, doesn't want anything to jeopardize graduation.

"It's been a real challenge for us,"Valdiviezsaid.

CVUSD deploying hotspots,outfittedbuses

The eastern Coachella Valley has some of the lowest rates of connectivity in the area, according to a map releasedby theCoachella Valley Economic Partnership, an economic and business advocacy group. Thermal, in particular, has the lowest percentage of households with internet service at 39%, followed by nearby unincorporated communitiesOasis at 42%, Mecca at 63% and North Shore at 64%.

Those communities also have higher percentages of school-age childrencompared to western Coachella Valley cities like Palm Springs,Rancho Mirage and Palm Desert, according to the data compiled by CVEP from the U.S. Census Bureau's 2018 American Community Survey and Esri Business Analyst 2020.

To try to remedy the local internet problem, CVUSDpurchased and handed out about 3,000 mobilehotspots to families in the district, a figurebased on previous survey responses from parents who expressed aneed, Superintendent Dr. Maria Gandera said.

The City of Coachella allowed the district to use its "city rate" to purchase those hotspots from Verizon, she said.

But it quickly became apparent that more devices were necessary. The district, which serves about 17,000 students,recently ordered an additional 1,500 hotspots, which Gandera said last week were expected "any day now."Verizonrelayed to the district that it is a top priority, Gandera said, but itstill had not received them as of Wednesday.

"Once everybody knew about the hotspots, and that we were going virtual, a lot more people have asked for hotspots for their families," Gandera said.

The district is also deployingafleet of roughly 20 hotspot-equipped buses todifferent communities, to be stationed in any given area from 6:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Depending on where the buses are parked— right in front of an apartment building, for example— the signal range could reach a wide group of people.

At least seven buses were stationed in the North Shore area last Friday morning.

"If people call and say, 'We're not getting any internet connectivity over here,' andwe don't see enough hotspots there, we can move the buses to different locations," Gandera said.

As more hotspots are delivered and connectivity issues are smoothed out over time, fewer buses will be drivenout into the community, she said.

"There's always challenges every school year. And every school year those challenges get resolved quickly," Gandera said. "So, these are our challenges for this year. And we will get through them as quickly as we possibly can."

PSUSD upgrades cell tower in Sky Valley

Palm Springs Unified School Districtis also handing out hotspots to families who don't have internet servicein their homes.

"These hotspots are not to solve poor internet connections," the districtsaid on its Facebook page. "A hotspot will not address those issues. Connectivity issues are inevitable from time to time, and teachers will work with your students when they occur."

More than4,200devices have beengiven out so farand a shipment of 100 more is expected shortly, said William Carr, PSUSD's director of educational technology andinformation systems.About 60 students are currently on the waitlist for one.

Megan Garside, a mother of four, wasone of the parents awaiting a new hotspot.

Two of her children are enrolled in PSUSD, but the family lives about 30 miles away inMountain Center, an unincorporated community in theSan Jacinto Mountains. Because of the remote location, an original T-Mobile hotspot they got from the district didn'thave service in their area. A special batch of Verizon devices had be ordered, she said, and the family was able to pick one up Wednesday.

"I had to make a lot of phone calls," she said. "I don't like having to be the squeaky wheel, but I kinda had to be a squeaky wheel."

Garside, who is generally optimistic about the situation, said dealing with unreliable internet throughout the pandemic hasbeen a challenge for her kids. Until now they've reliedon satellite internet, which has its limitations. Zoom sessions have failed, and some assignments won't load.

"It's just barely been enough to cover my two girls doing their work, but it has been pretty shoddy," she said last week. "I'm just trying to be very patient."

PSUSD is also making upgrades to a cell phone tower in Sky Valley, an unincorporated community east of Palm Springs, which willimprove internet access forabout 80 families in the district.About 77% of Sky Valley's households currently have internet service and 58% have broadband, according to the Coachella Valley Economic Partnership's recent report.

Overall, many cities withinPSUSD's reachhavehigherrates ofconnectivity compared to the eastern edge ofCVUSD, the report shows. In Palm Springs, 88% of households of have internet;Rancho Mirage is at 91% and Cathedral City is at 82%.

Hotspots from DSUSD, statewide assistance

In Desert Sands Unified School District, which returnedto school Wednesday, just over 1,000 hotspots that connect to the district's LTE network have been passed out to date, said spokeswomanMary Perry. That broadband network, built before the pandemic, affords students accessto the district's network 24/7.

"If students don't have home access, they can contact their school site and we will assist," Perry added.

But many DSUSD families experienced a difficult technological start to the new school year this week. Thedistrict had server issueswhich made connectivity sporadic at best Wednesday.

As of 10:40 a.m., Perry said some schools had been fully brought back online whileothers hadnot. She said it was a combination of problems, including a server issue on their end and some areas in the district also suffered a power outage. By the end of the school day, Perry said there were no lingering issues that she knew about.

Some parts of the Desert Sands district, according to the CVEP report, have high rates of connectivity:87% of households in Palm Desert have internet, with 92% in Indian Wells and 90% in Bermuda Dunes. But in the unincorporated area of Indio Hillsonly 53% of households have internet.

At the beginning of the pandemic, Superintendent Scott Bailey told DSUSD parents in a letter that families without internet were eligible for free Spectrum broadband for 60 days. Perry said this week that the district is "not aware" that Spectrum is still offering that service.

Beyond internet assistance on a district-by-district level, the state also recently pledged to help schools close the "digital divide" between students more broadly. Gov. Gavin Newsom reported in a press conference last week that the state has provided 100,000 free hotspots and 73,000 devices to school districts throughout California.The California Public Utilities Commission made87,000 additional hotspots available.

In addition, Newsom signed an executive orderthat directs agencies to pursue a goal of 100 Mbps download speed, and requests that the California Broadband Council, established in 2010topromote broadband deployment inunderserved areas, create a new State Broadband Action Plan, among other connectivity-related measures.

The Desert Sun wants to hear feedback from parents, students and teachersabout distance learning in the Coachella Valley. Please fill out the survey below.

Amanda Ulrich works for The Desert Sun as a Report for America corps member. She can be reached at amanda.ulrich@desertsun.com.

'It's been a real challenge': As students return to school, some still lack reliable internet (2025)
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