PUERTO PALOMAS, Mexico — Jared Jurado's school day starts at 12:30 p.m. for a 30- to 45-minute class via Zoom, if he can manage to log on. Sometimes, his home internet networksends out a weak signal.
"Imagine that you're struggling to get online for 10 minutes and then you only get 20 or15 minutes of class," Jared's mother,Vitinia Garrido, saidof her 7-year-old's struggles.
With two daughters — one in college and the other one in high school—taking classes all day, Garrido said the family often disconnects all other devices to avoid their internet networkfrom saturating.
Still, the studentsoften lose connection and it sometimestakes themhours to download videos and assignments.
Education:Rural school districts continue to struggle with internet access as online classes start
These are among the challenges for schoolchildren in Puerto Palomas,a town in Mexico just across the border fromColumbus, New Mexico. More than 800 students in the communityattend school in the United States.These students are U.S. citizens wholive in Mexico with their parents. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, they used to cross the border every day to commute to school.
Iram Romero is one of those students. He lives in Mexico and attends Red Mountain Middle School in Deming.
Iram has lost internet connection many times while taking online classes. Recently, after losing it for athird time, he got back online but wasn't able to loginto theZoom meetingand missed the rest of the class.
"Theantennas get saturated," said his mom, Yalia Romero. "We are too many users here."
Three different internet providers use the same network inPalomas, and that's often not enough for the town of almost 5,000 residents.
Linette Guerra's14-year-old son Adrian Morales attends Deming High School. He struggled at first to adjust to distance learning, but is getting used to it.
"I do have internet access, but it sometimes fails," Adrian said. "My optionthen isto wait for the internet connection to get better."
Sometimes, hehas to wait until the next day to turn in assignments.
"They're pretty understanding," hesaid about his teachers."They're pretty strict with due dates, but overall they get that not everyone has the best connection."
Want more news like this? Click here to subscribe to the Las Cruces Sun-News.
Students in Mexico's public schoolsare set to start classes this week, which will likelyaddmore people using the limited network.
Offering more options
Students from Puerto Palomas have been attendingschools in Columbus and Deming for decades, Deming Public Schools District Superintendent Arsenio Romero said.
The district provides transportation for studentswho musttravel more than 5miles to go to school in Columbusalmost 60 miles to get to Deming HighSchool. Now with distance learning, the district is trying to providetechnological solutions for their students living in Mexico.
"My job has always been to be able to provide the best education we can for every student that presents themselves, and these students show up every day," Romero said.
The district provided one laptop per household, but having a device gets students only halfway to successful distance learning.
While the district was able to give internet hot spots to students on the U.S. side, that wasn't a solution for the students living in Palomas as the U.S. providers don't use the network in Mexico.
The schools themselves are Wi-Fi hot spots, but crossing the border can be a challenge for the students in Mexico.
"We haven't really been able to be successful with finding one solution for everybody," Romero said."So we just have to kind of piece things together to be able to provide this access to as many students as possible."
Education:K-12 students sought for Innoventure Challenge
Palomas students are able to access Wi-Fi from the town's library, even while it's closed to the public. Still, only six students can use the library Wi-Fi at the same time before the service becomes saturated.
The library is a good option for downloading and uploading assignments, but not ideal forZoom.
The other option for students in Palomas is a school bus with a hot spot parked on the U.S. side of the border only a few feet away from the international crossing.Two benches with a metal pitched roof provide seating and shade.
This hot spot also is used by students who live in rural areas of Luna County whoalso have limited internet access.
Roseanna Olvera, a resident of Palomas,works as a crossing guard for the Deming Public Schools. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she has taken on extra duty by assisting students who wish to access the Wi-Fi on the school bus.
She said she is one of a few who work in shifts from 8 a.m. to 3:15 p.m. at the bus site.
“No students showed up during my shift in the last two days,” she said recently."I usually help two to four students in the afternoon if they need to connect.”
Olvera has three childrenenrolled in the Deming school district, one in middle school, one in intermediate school (sixth grade) and one in elementary school.
Coronavirus in New Mexico:Fourth COVID-19 case identified at Fairacres Elementary in Las Cruces
“My husband helps at home, but he can only do so much,” Olvera said. “It’s frustrating because the internet service in Palomas is not good. My children can be working on an assignment, and then we lose connection.”
Not many of the parents in Palomas have heard about the school bus parked at the port of entry and few have taken advantage of it.
"That would be a good option," Garrido said. "Right now, I can't cross, but the bus would be a good option since my two daughters and my son can cross together."
Garrido fears for young students who don't have older siblings to cross the border with them. One solution, she believes, is for groups of students to cross together.
Parents getting together to get their kids toschool is nothing new in Palomas, as many organized to carpool when schools were open andrecently have been using chatapps to help each other duringdistance learning.
"The resiliency of the families in Columbus has been amazing," Romero said."They have figured out ways to make (distance learning)happen."
Alanguage barrier for parents
Distance learning also is challenging for students who still are learning English and mightbe computer illiterate.
Yalia Romero believes that the limited time Iramgets with teachers in English-speaking classesis not enough.
Money:Grants supporting immigrant community offered to New Mexico nonprofits
"There have been a lot of challenges especially since we don't have all the knowledge to help them out," said Romero, who doesn't speak English.
She said she has tried using translation apps, but it's not the same as having an English speaker.
Inside the Garrido home, they speak Spanish. MomVitinia Garrido is worried Jared won'tbe able to develop his English language skills quick enough to keep up with his schoolmates in the United States.
"It has been very difficult for him," Garrido said. "You can't compare half an hour of classes in English to eight hours taking it at school."
Still,Jared's two older sistershelp him out with English assignments.
Despite the challenges, these Palomasparents are determined to provide their sons and daughters an American education, especially since the childrenare U.S. citizens.
"For us it's a lot easier—since we live in the border— to have the possibility to send your kids to school over there," Garrido said. "The fact that they speak both languages opens doors in different ways."
Education:Educators question low English language learner proficiency in New Mexico
Veronica Martinez is a trending and immigration reporter for the Las Cruces Sun-News She can be reached at vmartinez@lcsun-news.com or @vamartinez10 on Twitter.
Deming Headlight editor Bill Armendarizcontributed to this report.
