Education grant will install Wi-Fi on Nevada school buses

The Nevada Department of Education has awarded $150,000 to four rural counties to install Wi-Fi on their school buses.

“Many of our students travel long distances each day to get to school, so ensuring that they have Internet access while in transit is invaluable,” said Superintendent of Education Jhone Ebert.

She said some particularly rural students in Nevada have to take bus rides to and from school that are an hour or more each way. She said in Mineral County, some students spend five hours round trip on the bus each day and, in bad weather, the journey can be even longer.

Wi-Fi, she said, will enable them to do their homework, study and receive online tutoring during the ride.

In addition to Mineral County School District, school districts in Churchill, Humboldt and Storey counties will also get some of the grant money.

Through federal grant funding, education officials say 43 buses have been equipped with Wi-Fi hubs so far. The funding pays not only for installation but for the Internet service and system maintenance for the first year of operation.