5,000 children without devices in Guilford County; district asks for donations
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Guilford County, NC (WGHP) — Guilford County Schools is asking for device donations after reporting that 5,000 students do not have the technology they need for the virtual start of school.
The district is asking for tablets and laptops that can connect to Wi-Fi, have cameras and chargers.
“They can drop those devices off, we can clean them, get them access to our server and deploy them out to students who need them,” said Whitney Oakley, the district’s chief academic officer.
Oakley explained that school leaders have ordered about 73,000 devices from April to July to cover students and teachers, but there’s an international shipping delay.
She said it could be late November before those devices arrive.
“Every day that passes that students don’t have access to devices and instruction is contributing to achievement gaps, it’s contributing to learning loss and that could be life outcomes for kids that we absolutely have to take into consideration,” Oakley said.
Winston McGregor serves as executive director of Guilford Education Alliance and is a member of the Board of Education. She expressed concerns about the lasting impact of learning loss.
“That 90 days could be 4 percent of your whole education career, and we may say that’s only 4 percent but we all know the difference between getting a job 95 percent of the way done or 99 percent of the way done,” she said.
FOX8 spoke with a Guilford County parent who received one laptop for her three children in different grade levels Wednesday.
She said her students have been unable to complete coursework, and she isn’t sure how she will balance live instruction.
“I want them to be able to start school and get their school going, I don’t want them to get behind and I don’t want them to get discouraged or overwhelmed,” she said.
Recorded lessons will be available for students sharing devices, or those who have to attend learning centers to access a computer at all.
Devices can be donated at 712 N. Eugene Street in Greensboro and at 900 English Road in High Point.
You can also learn more about donating to the Guilford Education Alliance.
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