District Administrator's Corner

by Loren Glasbrenner,  River Valley School District Administrator I had no idea it was a legitimate offer…I figured the low price was too good to be true.  But, I was wrong. I was too skeptical. You see, out in Bear Valley where Cindy and I built our home, the access to communication systems has been a barrier.  Our cell phones don’t have service, and it became very clear very fast that we were “out in the boondocks.”  We had chosen the space carefully, and predicted some slight struggles to get everything set up, but we soon learned that accessing communication systems in rural Richland, Iowa, and Sauk counties was going to be a chore. Currently, we have satellite services, which also allow us to use our cellphones in our home.  And, through some negotiating, we finally did get a landline to our home in case of an emergency.  But, if the weather gets troublesome, the service from the satellite can be sketchy. It brings the reality that “working from home” is an unavailable process due to our communication services.  And this is the same for many River Valley families out in the country – gaining access to online services for many in rural areas can be tricky, at best. Thankfully, in the past two years communication access has received a real boost.  There are new opportunities that are available with federal subsidies due to the pandemic.  Finally, rural broadband development has received a great deal of attention.  Due to COVID-19 and isolation to homes, the communication and access to the Internet became necessary for students, parents, and residents to have more functional accessibility in their homes.  Yet, there are barriers to overcome.  Aging or no longer existing phone lines need to be replaced.  There is the reality that new technologies need different infrastructure to be placed across the state for rural residents.  And families need to be educated on what is available and can be trusted. Reedsburg Electric (ruclightspeed.com) has started this process in our area.  They have started to lay conduit for high speed services for rural residents.  If you travel to their website and click on “New Customers,” you are able to see a map of expanded opportunities for our school families and residents.  There is a Spring Green Project, a High Point/Lime Ridge Project, an Iowa County Project, a Witwen Project, and a Bear Valley Project.  Mt. Horeb Telephone Company has also started to work in Iowa County.  With hard work, accessibility will be available to most households in the townships by the end of 2023.   But, you have to sign up!  If you receive information from Lightspeed or Mount Horeb Telephone Company about fiber, please review it.  It may be your chance to get fiber installed at a very discounted rate (and only for a short amount of time).  If you have questions, groups such as the River Valley Broadband Coalition, a local non-profit, are here to help.  Contact them at broadband@rivervalleycommons.org or 608-588-7428.   I called Reedsburg Utility (608-768-1000) and I am on the list.  In the fall, I have the chance to have high speed communication services to my home.  I am hoping family and friends that read this will share this information, so that all students in River Valley can have similar access to communication. I am sure my Grandpa Leo in rural Crawford County in the late 1950’s was also skeptical about the first rural telephone lines, but progress takes trust.  Let’s help each other to move our communication systems ahead.