RICHMOND, Va. (STACKER) — Although access to high-speed internet in schools has come a long way in the last decade, some school districts in Virginia are still lagging behind.
In 2013, 70% of U.S. schools lacked an internet connection of 100 Kbps per student, the minimum speed the Federal Communication Commission set to meet basic classroom needs. By 2018, fewer than 2% of schools failed to meet that threshold.
Virginia has sought to promote high speed internet in under-served areas with federal funding under President Biden’s Infrastructure Act. That funding will be used not only to benefit students in those areas, but also the residents who often pay high bills for inadequate connections.
Still, nearly 28 million U.S. students lack adequate internet speeds to effectively and regularly engage in digital classroom learning.
Stacker compiled a list of school districts in Virginia with the slowest internet speeds using data from Connect K-12. School districts are ranked by internet speed in Mbps. Ties are broken by the number of students in the school district.
#10. Wythe County School District
– Bandwidth per student: 0.31 Mbps
– Total students: 4,099
– Cost per Mbps: $3.56
– Total monthly cost: $3,919.99
#9. Carroll County School District
– Bandwidth per student: 0.3 Mbps
– Total students: 3,726
– Cost per Mbps: $1.62
– Total monthly cost: $1,615.00
#8. Pittsylvania County Public Schools
– Bandwidth per student: 0.29 Mbps
– Total students: 9,004
– Cost per Mbps: $1.65
– Total monthly cost: $3,300.00
#7. Amherst County Public School Division
– Bandwidth per student: 0.27 Mbps
– Total students: 4,146
– Cost per Mbps: $4.7
– Total monthly cost: $4,700.00
#6. Hopewell City School District
– Bandwidth per student: 0.27 Mbps
– Total students: 4,272
– Cost per Mbps: $1.3
– Total monthly cost: $1,303.00
#5. Craig County Public Schools
– Bandwidth per student: 0.26 Mbps
– Total students: 590
– Cost per Mbps: $6.77
– Total monthly cost: $1,050.00
#4. Floyd County School Division
– Bandwidth per student: 0.26 Mbps
– Total students: 1,912
– Cost per Mbps: $3.05
– Total monthly cost: $1,525.00
#3. Mecklenburg County School District
– Bandwidth per student: 0.26 Mbps
– Total students: 4,393
– Cost per Mbps: $2.53
– Total monthly cost: $2,525.00
#2. Botetourt County School District
– Bandwidth per student: 0.25 Mbps
– Total students: 4,570
– Cost per Mbps: $1.35
– Total monthly cost: $1,350.00
#1. Accomack County School District
– Bandwidth per student: 0.18 Mbps
– Total students: 5,309
– Cost per Mbps: $7.2
– Total monthly cost: $5,760.00
