By MICHELLE LIU
The Associated Press / Report for America
COLOMBIA – South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster said on Tuesday that he will spend $ 6 million on COVID-19 discretionary aid funds in free community computer labs near broadband deserts across the state.
School children, teachers and others who need access to computers will soon be able to use Apple computers at eight locations in the state, McMaster announced at a news conference at Benedict College, a historically black liberal arts school in the state capital.
“The pandemic made it very clear that access to the Internet is not a luxury, but a necessity for millions of people in South Carolina,” McMaster said in a statement. “The strategic location of these labs will strengthen South Carolina’s workforce training efforts, giving our communities and people access to the resources they need to expand participation in our state’s growing economy.”
The announcement comes as authorities push to expand broadband access across the state. Hundreds of thousands of people in rural areas of the state have struggled to connect, a problem highlighted after the coronavirus pandemic pushed many vital functions to the Internet.
The eight computer labs will be strategically located so that local school districts, historically, black colleges and universities and technical schools can use them, officials said. Two centers will be centralized in the Bull Street district of Columbia and Benedict College, with a few others located on the University of South Carolina campuses.
“This wi-fi network will reach communities in and around these labs in significant ways,” said Benedict College President Roslyn Clark Artis.
Tuesday’s announcement leaves about $ 22 million of the $ 48 million in pandemic relief funds that McMaster received from the federal government last year to spend on education. McMaster did not say where else he plans to allocate the funds. He has until the May deadline to spend the rest of the money.
McMaster previously said that $ 20 million of the money would go to early childhood education, professional training and guardians for children in temporary adoption.
The governor’s initial plan announced last summer was to spend most of the money on grants of up to $ 6,500 to help parents send their children to private or religious schools, which provided instruction at school when most schools across the country state still had virtual classes, at least part time.
But the state Supreme Court ruled in October that McMaster’s plans violated the state constitution by sending public money to private schools. The decision also suspended $ 2.4 million set aside by the governor for technological improvements at historically black universities and colleges.
Supporters of McMaster’s plans said more than 15,000 families expressed an interest in donations. Opponents said the governor was using the pandemic to promote school vouchers, for which the legislature has been unable to obtain full support in more than a decade.
In January, McMaster outlined plans to redirect $ 20 million out of the $ 48 million. This included $ 8 million for technical colleges in South Carolina to allow 3,100 people who lost their jobs in the pandemic to take free classes for healthcare jobs, such as certified nursing assistants or in manufacturing, criminal justice or computers.
McMaster also set aside $ 7 million to expand full-day pre-kindergarten for 4-year-olds. The program is free for families whose children are on Medicaid or earn just under twice the federal poverty level.
The South Carolina Department of Social Services was set to receive an additional $ 4.9 million to improve education in 74 collective homes and about 600 children living with foster families.