By CRYSTAL BIRNS

Cruzio Sales and Marketing Manager Jesus Lopez in Cruzio’s server room. When coronavirus forced schools online in March, the digital divide was highlighted in a new way, and the need for reliable internet in student’s homes became critical. Cruzio partnered with the County Office of Education, Pajaro Valley School District and Community Foundation Santa Cruz County to develop a plan to expand coverage by offering free and subsidized plans.

Equal Access Santa Cruz was born, with a vision of bringing high-speed internet to every family in the Santa Cruz community, regardless of income level. Demand has been overwhelming. As project lead, this effort is a personal one for Lopez. The child of migrant farmworker parents, he grew up on the Central Coast and is familiar with many of the challenges faced by the families he now works with. His passion and ability to bridge language and cultural divides have been pivotal to the project’s success.

Learn more at equalaccesssantacruz.com.

See Original Story on Santa Cruz Sentinel

October 1,2020 • Cruzio Internet

Cruzio has been working with the Pajaro Valley Unified School District for months to get reliable, fast internet to all the students who need it. We’ve been installing high speed broadband at their homes since springtime and have connected about 50 families so far.

And we love these students. They’ve been in online classes for weeks now and they’ve been telling us how much it means to have a good connection.

Here’s who they are and what they have to say! We’re hoping they stay in touch so we can see where they are years from now. We suspect we’re looking a the future leaders of our county — maybe a mayor or a county supervisor in the bunch.

First, a couple of middle schoolers made videos and they’re fantastic. Karyna even translated her statement into Spanish after she speaking with impressive poise in English. As Cruzio’s Sales and Marketing Manager, Jesus Lopez, put it: “I’m not crying, you’re crying.”

Continue reading “Santa Cruz County Students Speak Out About Internet”

Amidst the pandemic, smoke, power outages, and economic insecurity, the school year has started in Santa Cruz County with distance learning. Aptos Junior High student Mahia Aguilar had to go to a park nearby her home to connect to the internet. The park was busy and distracting, the internet was spotty, and frankly, she confessed, sometimes it was scary.

Mahia is just one of the children in the Pajaro Valley Unified School District where about 30% of families did not have home internet at the beginning of the pandemic, despite the fact that all students in PVUSD were equipped with Chromebooks. These are families that struggle financially even in the best of times, prioritizing food and rent over another service bill. Teachers are reporting that students without home internet just seem to “disappear.” These students, who already face so many obstacles to their education, are going to be further left behind.

Continue Reading on Santa Cruz Sentinel

BY TODD GUILD

A team of local educators is teaming up with a Santa Cruz internet provider to bridge the digital divide and bring broadband service to families who have been unable to access it.

The Equal Access Santa Cruz County (EASCC) fund is a way to bring internet access to the estimated 15,745 students in Santa Cruz County who do not have it.

That high number gives the county a C- on the California Broadband Infrastructure Report Card, according to the Central Coast Broadband Consortium.

EASCC is a project of Cruzio Internet, the Santa Cruz County Office of Education (COE), Pajaro Valley Unified School District (PVUSD) and the Community Foundation of Santa Cruz County.

Continue Reading on Good Times Santa Cruz

BY SARA ISENBERG

Local internet provider Cruzio and Community Foundation Santa Cruz County lead local action to increase opportunity and access to education

This week marks the official launch of the Equal Access Santa Cruz County fund, spearheaded by Cruzio Internet with a simple goal: bridge the digital divide and bring true high-speed broadband to every family in Santa Cruz County, regardless of income level.

The state of California estimates that 21% of students (1.2 million) are unconnected to the internet and 71% of those students are Black and Latinx. Santa Cruz County, an area where many people are prosperous, has seen persistent gaps in educational opportunity. According to the Central Coast Broadband Consortium, Santa Cruz is graded a C- on its California Broadband Infrastructure Report Card and almost 16,000 households don’t have access to adequate internet. Even where broadband is available, low income families in our area are struggling.

Continue Reading at on Santa Cruz Tech Beat

Local internet provider Cruzio and Community Foundation Santa Cruz County lead local action to increase opportunity and access to education

This week marks the official launch of the Equal Access Santa Cruz County fund, spearheaded by Cruzio Internet with a simple goal: bridge the digital divide and bring true high-speed broadband to every family in Santa Cruz County, regardless of income level.

The state of California estimates that 21% of students (1.2 million) are unconnected to the internet and 71% of those students are Black and Latinx. Santa Cruz County, an area where many people are prosperous, has seen persistent gaps in educational opportunity. According to the Central Coast Broadband Consortium, Santa Cruz is graded a C- on its California Broadband Infrastructure Report Card and almost 16,000 households don’t have access to adequate internet. Even where broadband is available, low income families in our area are struggling. Their priorities are food and rent, and they require the internet services they need to be free or very low cost.

Continue Reading on SantaCruzWorks.com

August 11, 2020 • Cruzio Internet

Equal Access Santa Cruz has a simple goal: to bridge the digital divide and bring true high-speed broadband to every family in the Santa Cruz community, regardless of income level. The project is spearheaded by Cruzio Internet, one of the country’s oldest independent ISPs and a trusted partner in the Santa Cruz community for over 30 years.

When the current health crisis hit our county, our education system was an immediate area of major concern. it was obvious that the need for high-quality broadband had never been higher, and that low-income families would be the hardest hit.

Continue reading “Cruzio Internet, Equal Access Santa Cruz and the Santa Cruz County Office of Education”

August 25, 2020 • Cruzio Internet

For folks who’ve been displaced and need to connect to the internet, Cruzio has set up several public wifi spots outdoors which you can access in your car or while social distancing. This internet is very fast and it’s free of charge. There’s no password.

Continue reading “Evacuated? Cruzio Is Supplying Free WiFi”

April 30, 2020 • Cruzio Internet

Cruzio thought we might have less activity during shelter-in-place, but we were wrong.

School kids need more internet

Children who used to access the internet from their school or library don’t have access there any more. So Cruzio has added a considerable number of donated accounts to our work. We’re collaborating with the Santa Cruz County Office of Education (COE) to get internet connections to low-income families who need to get their kids online.

If children can’t access the internet, they may fall behind in school, and we can’t let that happen.

Continue reading “Cruzio CEO Message: People Need Way More Internet”

January 7, 2020 • Cruzio Internet

Cruzio Wins a Grant

On December 5th Cruzio was awarded a $2.45 Million broadband grant from the California Advanced Services Fund to build high-speed fiber optic internet connectivity to seven under-served mobile home parks in the Capitola area.

Continue reading “Equal Access Santa Cruz Wins Big”