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700,000 computers needed to get all California students online for distance learning

The state plans to provide billions to school districts to help get every student in need of a computer and reliable WiFi for distance learning in the fall.

CALIFORNIA, USA — Parents like Jacqueline Shields from Citrus Heights are relying heavily on school district resources to make sure her kids have the resources they need before school starts in the falls.

“The school did let us borrow their Chromebook, and I was able to get WiFi for nine dollars through Comcast,” Shields said.

Kimberly Giurbino, a mother of five children in Yuba City, said, if she didn’t happen to buy her kids Chromebooks during the holidays, they wouldn't have those devices for distance learning.

“I might have been smart with the stimulus and purchased a bunch of Chromebooks, if I hadn’t purchased [them] during Christmas time.” Giurbino said.

However, quality technology is not the case for all California students. According to California Department of Education, 700,000 computers will be needed to get all students online. The state plans to provide $5.3 billion for school districts, applying funds first to low-income disadvantaged districts.

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“The allocations are determined by the number of low income students you have, the number of homeless students you have, [and] foster youth students with special needs,” said Ben Chida, a representative for the Governor's Office.

San Juan Unified School District said they are prepared to help bridge the digital divide for their students. A spokesperson for the district said they have 35,000 computers on hand that are ready to go home to students in need.

"We gave out 24,000 devices in the spring, and then this fall, we wanted to make sure we had enough on hand to replace those that were damaged or not returned in the spring so we did purchase additional devices,” said Trent Allen, spokesperson for San Juan Unified.

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