Officials hope free offer gets more Philly students home internet access

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PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Philadelphia school administrators say they hope a free internet-access offer from Comcast may help connect students with the online lessons made necessary by the coronavirus pandemic.

The media behemoth announced that low-income families now have until the end of this year to sign up for 60 days of free internet access.

Superintendent William Hite says 5% of the district's students were unable to secure internet access for online schoolwork during the COVID-19 shutdown. On a video conference with reporters, Hite welcomed the Comcast announcement.

"We've been working with them on a weekly basis to try to solve the 5% problem," he said.

The Internet Essentials offer was originally set to expire on June 30. In addition, Comcast is waiving through the end of the year the sign-up requirement that customers not have a past-due balance.

"I'm very appreciative of their continued work to help us solve many of these challenges," Hite said.

The district bought 2,500 mobile hot spots to provide internet access for families who had none. Hite was concerned the number of students without internet access could grow next fall, as the 60-day windows expire.