LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — With non-traditional instruction scheduled to begin Wednesday, there's at least one school in Lexington whose students and faculty are not ready.
"More than 75% of them do not have internet access to start NTI tomorrow morning," said Ashley Lunsford, a preschool teacher at Lafayette Christian on Clays Mill Road.
The Lexington Fayette County School District rectified this problem for many living in the area ahead of tomorrow's NTI start by offering WiFi and hotspots to those in need. But the district couldn't accommodate every scenario. Many students who will be learning online won't be doing so inside their own homes.
"They might be at a childcare facility, or a babysitter’s home, or some other location because their parents are working," Lunsford said.
And those are just some of the problems for Lafayette Christian, whose building dates back to the early 1970s.
"...this building does not have internet access. We've contacted multiple internet providers, and the funding is not there," Lunsford said.
She added that it would cost roughly $2,000 to add the necessary infrastructure to the building and an additional $350 monthly for a service provider contract. With the daycare facility operating at only 33% of its capacity, the school just doesn't have the money to do that job.
Even kids who can come with a district-provided chrome book, won't have any use for them.
"Because we don't have internet here, those chrome books won't work," said Lunsford.
Lunsford said there's panic among staff members here over what the immediate future holds, and serious concern about the long-term ramifications this situation could create.
"There's always so much regression after a summer, anyway, so is this going to make it tenfold?" Lunsford said.
