BALTIMORE — Baltimore City Schools switched to remote learning on Monday. It’s been nearly a month since a student has been in a classroom in Baltimore City.
This week they switched to online, but thousands of students don’t have a laptop or steady internet at home.
Those students are being given work packets, while leaders work to get them online.
Lisa Molock with No One Left Unhelped has made it her mission to get hundreds of new tablets donated to the children in Baltimore who need it most.
“We just want you to go on our Amazon Wish list and just order tablets so that we can distribute them to children that need them,” said Molock. “Because right now we need the tablets today not tomorrow, We need them today.”
She’s already handed out more than 50 tablets out to students and just got another shipment to distribute.
“We have about 80,000 children in Baltimore City Schools registered," she explained. "80,000 and more than half of them do not have internet access or a device.”
Baltimore City Schools CEO Dr. Sonja Santelises said they are working hard organizing and preparing 15,000 chrome books to distribute.
“Priority will be giving to our high school juniors and seniors,” Santelises said. “We are ordering additional chromebooks and other devices wherever they are available. However this will take time as many other school districts around the country are doing the same.”
Baltimore City Council unanimously passed a bill Monday night aimed at closing the digital divide.
Councilman Zeke Cohen sponsored the bill calling on the federal government to reimburse the city for funding to get an additional 12,000 chromebooks and free internet access to all students.
“Now is the time for us to stand with our students and work with our schools to close the digital divide,” said Cohen. “We need to make sure our children can learn, achieve, and compete in the 21st century economy not just during this crisis but moving forward.”
The work packets are available for pickup every Monday at any of the 18 meal sites.
For more information on how to help Lisa Molock get Tablets out to kids click here.
