Sugar Creek finally receives internet

Published 6:30 am Wednesday, October 18, 2017

As of Monday, internet and phone services are finally up and running at Sugar Creek Elementary School. The new school has done without these essentials since the beginning of the school year, forcing teachers to find creative ways around the less-than-ideal situation.

Nearly every aspect of school life depends on internet access. Students and teachers view classroom lessons on Smartboards. School lunches are paid for using a PIN pad and internet. Homework and classwork is completed using iPads and Macbooks. Grades are entered into an online system called iNOW.

This year, many of those daily activities had to be skipped or changed to accommodate a lack of internet at the school. Macbooks and iPads were withheld from students, instead of being rented out like they were at other schools in the county. Even safety systems, such as the Rave Panic Button and SafeDefend app, couldn’t be accessed by teachers.

“Some people may consider internet access a luxury, but when 700 students need it to function, it’s essential,” Limestone County Superintendent Dr. Tom Sisk said.

Frustrated by “a lack of urgency” on the part of Charter Spectrum, the internet and phone service providers contracted to do the work for Sugar Creek, Sisk started making some calls. He contacted the Federal Communications Commission and enlisted their help, then started calling managers at all levels of Charter Spectrum.

“I made it very clear that we were building a school, it took us a year and a half to build it and all along, everyone knew we needed utilities like internet and phone,” Sisk said. “Honestly, I couldn’t tell you where the process slowed down, but I can tell you I am an impatient man and want things done yesterday.”

Sisk said the struggles faced by teachers at Sugar Creek motivated him to make some noise. According to Sugar Creek Principal Cleo Miller, those struggles included using home internet or borrowed hotspots to input grades. The counselor’s clerk would travel to the now-closed Owens Elementary to put attendance records into the internet-based tracking system.

However, Miller was pleased with the way teachers approached these issues.

“The teachers did an excellent job adjusting to the challenges and I told them over and over how remarkable they were,” she said.

Miller admitted students were disappointed they didn’t get an electronic device when school started, but they were already used to incorporating physical textbooks, pen and paper in their daily work.

“They just had to do things the old school way for a while,” Miller said. “They continued to learn through the whole process and used what they could.”

The school is in the process of issuing Macbook and iPads to students this week. Sisk said that in all fairness, Charter did eventually get the work done.