Efforts underway to expand internet access to all in Waukegan and North Chicago: ‘It’s clear it is a fourth utility’

Educators in Waukegan and North Chicago spent last summer scrambling to find a way for every student to have the necessary tools to go to school — using a computer at home to connect with their teacher and classmates through the internet — because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Now those educators are teaming with governmental entities and private partners to find more efficient ways to bring internet connections not only to all students, but eventually to the residents and businesses of both cities.

North Chicago School District 187 started a program earlier this month making internet available to all families while Connect Waukegan, a community broadband task force, is seeking proposals for a master plan for internet connectivity by June 30, as both groups seek to expand online access.

Both District 187 Superintendent John Price and Josue Cuevas, Waukegan Community Unit School District 60′s associate superintendent of information technology, said learning through a computer screen will remain an essential part of schooling when the pandemic is a memory.

“It will be part of homework and tutoring,” Price said. “They can use it on the weekend. If they don’t understand something, they can call a friend and work on it together. They can share screens.”

Click through to read the full article “Efforts underway to expand internet access to all in Waukegan and North Chicago: ‘It’s clear it is a fourth utility” by Steve Sadin, LAKE COUNTY NEWS-SUN | JUN 10, 2021.