The project pledging to provide free Wi-Fi to thousands of
people on the West Side that was promised to come by January will likely not be
ready until late spring.
Buffalo
Public Schools Acting Director of Instructional Technology Sarah Edwards says
the project is just now in its early stages and that plans to have the project
done by the beginning of the year were too ambitious.
“I’m
honestly not sure where that goal came from,” Edwards said. “The story came out
just when the RFP was awarded, which meant we were still going through the
planning and contract procedures. We are trying to move forward with more
concrete plans.”
The free
Wi-Fi zone on the West Side will extend from West Ferry Street south to Carolina
Street and extend east from Richmond Avenue to the I-190.
The project
will give Buffalo Public School students access to free Wi-Fi in order to do
schoolwork at home. Family members will be able to use the Wi-Fi, but there
will be filters to block social networking sites and streaming services.
The project
is being partially funded by a grant from the State Department of Education.
According
to Edwards, the plan is to place large antennas that will amplify the school’s Wi-Fi
signal to the surrounding neighborhood, on the following schools: School 3, Frank
A. Sedita, Herman Badillo and Harvey Austin. The project organizers will be
looking to work with businesses and community organization to put equipment on
their buildings as well. By Francis Boeck
and Emmanuel Rodriguez
