Partnering with School Districts to Ensure Students Have the Connectivity They Need

Over the past several months, the country has faced unprecedented challenges and uncertainty when it comes to dealing with even the most common, everyday situations. As the summer months come to an end and fall ushers in another school year, lawmakers, administrators and educators are grappling with decisions about how and where students will resume schooling. One of the biggest factors in deciding which approach is best—whether it is in-person schooling, online learning, or a hybrid approach—is whether students have the reliable Internet connectivity in their homes necessary to attend online classes and complete schoolwork.

To help address the lack of internet connectivity faced by some student households, Spectrum Enterprise has been working on an innovative solution to help get more households connected. Through their new Stay Connected K-12 program, the Spectrum Enterprise team will work directly with school districts across our footprint to assist them in offering high-speed, cable broadband Internet access to students, educators and staff in their homes. This partnership will ensure that learning, teaching, and working are uninterrupted by giving schools and districts the flexibility to add students to the program when needed, and provide much needed in-home connectivity, which includes:

• Internet download speeds up to 50 Mbps
• Unlimited Internet usage with no data caps or speed throttling
• Cable modem, WiFi and self-installation kit provided at no cost
• Wireline connectivity with over 99.9% network reliability
• 24/7/365 technical support

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic Charter has done our part to help to ease the strain on millions of Americans, including by connecting nearly 450,000 students, teachers, and their families to up to 100 Mbps or 200 Mbps broadband service for 60 days at no cost, keeping around 700,000 customers connected when they had a hard time paying bills because of COVID-related economic hardship, and forgiving approximately $85 million in customers’ overdue balances. Charter gave its front-line workers a raise during the pandemic and is in the process of permanently raising its minimum wage from $15 to $20 per hour. Our COVID-19 pandemic response was even recognized by Forbes as one of the best in the nation. Charter’s Stay Connected K-12 program is another way we are doing our part to respond to the pandemic and support the communities we serve.