Prescott School Bus Is Study Hall On Wheels

PRESCOTT - One of Prescott's school buses is about to be set up with Inter- net access as part of a pilot project to make it a study hall on wheels.

Last Thursday at the Prescott School Board meeting, Superintendent Dr. Bill Jordan said one of the district's buses will be out- fitted with a wireless router to provide Internet access for students who sometimes have lengthy bus rides to and from school. The wireless Internet access would be a tool students could use to complete schoolwork while they are riding the bus, he said.

Sara Fletcher, board mem- ber and transportation coor- dinator/dispatcher, said the students know about the pilot program and they're excited.

"They ask me daily if we have it yet," Fletcher said.

She added the kids are dreaming about doing homework like finding current events for class that day using the Internet.

Districts across the country have been installing wire- less routers on school buses for students since 2010. Arizona was one of the first states to do so and Texas also got buses online this year, according to reports from The New York Times and National Public Radio.

The pilot project through Educational Service District 123 is installing the wireless routers in buses in the Clarkston, North Franklin, Prescott and Prosser school districts. The program will run for a minimum of 90 days, according to infor- mation provided from the service district to the school board.

All costs of the pilot project are being covered in full, so the districts don't have to pay out of pocket. Cradle- point is providing the Wi-Fi routers, Verizon Wireless is providing the Wi-Fi service, Premier Wireless/DeployNet will be installing the equipment and the project will be managed by the service district.

Not only will the project provide wireless Internet on the buses, it will also provide live web camera feeds.

The Internet usage will be filtered to make sure all of the Internet access for the students will be safe.

The service district has given the pilot project a green light and the routers can be installed in the buses as soon as the buses can be delivered to the right location. Fletcher said this can be done any- time.

The service district is still working out how to extend the pilot program from 90 days to last throughout the school year.