When the pandemic began in March and students suddenly were learning from home it became abundantly clear that broadband was now a necessity for the rural North State. The North State Together (NST) team developed a broadband availability map in late March that showed what was available and where within our five-county area. The map shows details of type of technology available down to the census block.

This map was enlightening in showing the lack of affordable broadband availability within our rural communities. NST has become a regional leader that is driving initiatives for affordable broadband. We have assigned a staff member to work closely with the North State Planning and Development Collective and the Center for Economic Development, both located in Chico. These organizations have created the Broadband Consortia (https://www.nspdc.csuchico.edu/#/bc) which includes the Northeastern California Connect Consortium and the Upstate California Connect Consortium. This Broadband Consortia is working closely with CAFWD (https://cafwd.org) to develop a Statewide Broadband Action Policy which supports affordable Broadband for All. NST has provided a letter of support to CAFWD for their efforts and continues to attend their meetings, workshops, and seminars.

As the broadband availability issue continues to be at the front of everyone's concerns in this new remote world, the North Far North Regional Consortium and the Centers of Excellence for Labor Market Research recognized recognized the immense value of having a broadband availability map. As a result, they contracted with NST to expand the map to the 22 counties in northern California that these organizations support. This further solidifies that broadband is a concern for everyone.

The NST team will continue to be involved in these important initiatives and are eager to work toward reliable and affordable broadband for all our communities in the north state.

CLICK HERE to check out North State Together's latest Data Viz showing broadband availability in Northern California. Filter on county and/or available technology to see what's available in your area for the students you serve.

Under the looming uncertainty of COVID-19, parents with newly school-aged kids faced many unexpected challenges beyond the typical back-to-school handbook. Veteran kindergarten teachers have expressed that this year is almost like their first year of teaching and they have had to adapt to the current needs under the pandemic guidelines.

Kindergarten Readiness Snapshot (KRS) is a tool used to assess and store information about incoming kindergarten students’ school readiness levels. KRS screens readiness in literacy, numeracy, and social-emotional/physical skills. KRS results are in for the 2020-2021 school year with 33.96% of kindergarteners assessing ready for kindergarten compared with the pre-COVID 2019 rate of 50.81% ready for school. North State Together will continue to monitor the rate at which children entering kindergarten return to pre-pandemic levels of school readiness and whether the rate of recovery is similar across North State counties and school districts. For more information on the FREE KRS tool, visit http://northstatetogether.org/krs/.

*Click on overall photo below to view detailed interactive data results.