Principal Says Closed School Gates Unintentional

Closed gates at Sonnie Hereford Elementary prevented some students from internet access to complete their school work.

New details tonight.

We are hearing from the sonnie hereford elementary school principal as he explains why the gates to the school campus were closed last week - blocking some students from accessing their schoolwork.

The state order related to the spread of coronavirus forced school campuses to close down... but districts are supposed to keep gates open for students.

It's so they can access the wifi network and complete online assignments.

Waay31's steven dilsizian joins us live with what he found out.

Steven?.

Right now, the gates to sonnie hereford elementary school are locked for the night, but recently, they were locked during the day, too the school district isn't sure who locked them, but suspect there may have been miscommunicatio n with local law enforcement.

Take sot: anthony davison - principal of sonnie hereford elementary school "huntsville city schools is providing what we've termed curbside wifi, and so again it's an effort to make sure all of our children have access to the wifi that is provided" sonnie hereford elementary school principal anthony davison says curbside wifi is being offered to students who don't have access to the internet at home.

The school district is taking classes online through its blended learning plan due to the coronavirus.

But recently, the school's gates were closed and students couldnt access the wifi.

Take sot: anthony davison - principal of sonnie hereford elementary school "we were made aware of a situation where our gate was closed, definitely it was no intent to keep anyone off of the grounds as it relates to using the wifi here at sonnie hereford."

The school district tells me local law enforcement agencies, including huntsville police, have access to the school gates.

Davison says there was possibly a miscommunicatio n with one of the agencies.

Take sot: anthony davison - principal of sonnie hereford elementary school "with the governor's order, we've been working closely with several agencies and, sometimes people may ride by just to check on our campus and i think it was done inadvertently to keep kids off of the playground to be in accordance with the order" davison says he and his staff will monitor the gates daily to make sure they are open during the day for all students.

He says they are learning and trying to improve constantly.

Take sot: anthony davison - principal of sonnie hereford elementary school "day by day, i definitely wouldn't take it week by week, and sometimes its hour by hour, because again our ultimate goal is to make sure we are reaching all of our children where they are" the gates are open from 8 am to 8 pm monday through friday.

Im told the wifi should be accessible to someone 300 yards from the school.

In hsv - sd - waay31 news.

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