K-W Superintendent Suggests Internet Become a Public Utility
Bryan Boysen, Superintendent/Elementary Principal in the Kenyon-Wanamingo School District says the lack of internet service in rural Minnesota is a huge issue.
Boysen was the guest on the KDHL AM Minnesota program and said he was simply thinking out loud about a possible solution saying, "You know we have electricity. We have water. Is internet going to be the next thing, because we just have so many families (without internet). We had to purchase dozens of hot spots. We used a lot of COVID money and donations from the townships to purchase hot spots through Verizon and T-Mobile so that we could give them to families so they had internet access."
Boysen said a number of staff in the K-W School District doesn't have quality internet either. He explained, "Not everybody has that fiberoptic or high speed internet capability. With that said what can we do as a society ? We know our society revolves around the internet. We pay bills on the internet, we communicate through the internet. When we're living in remote areas we're entitled to a free and appropriate public education. How are you going to get that public education?"
The Kenyon-Wanamingo Superintendent commented, "We've got to figure out technology and internet in the home and I think we as a society have a duty to figure that out."
Boysen also stated the school board may be requesting a operating levy referendum again this fall.
A request was soundly defeated last fall. Boysen believes the timing wasn't the best just a year following passage of a bond issue providing improvements to the buildings and grounds.
You can listen to the KDHL AM Minnesota January 11, 2021 show below:
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