In the Thursday edition of the Eagle, staff writer Steve Ferris told us there are census tracts along the county’s eastern border with high concentrations of consumers with no internet access, said Mark Gordon, county chief of economic development and planning.

One such area spans Allegheny, Parker and Fairview townships, where 14.4% of consumers lack internet access, according to a map provided by Gordon. The number of consumers without internet access in other eastern communities varies from 6.18% to 2.45%.

Statewide, 11% of Pennsylvanians do not have access to the internet, according to metrics from internetforall.gov.

Butler County Commissioner Kim Geyer said internet service is important to entice young people to live in the county.

“It’s just as crucial as water and sewer,” Geyer said.

Looking back at the COVID-19 pandemic, many people were put in a position forcing them to work and learn from home. That situation lead to an understanding that — much to the dismay of students — a snow day didn’t necessarily mean no school.

Now, barring extreme circumstance, there’s no reason for a student to miss a day of schooling.

Unless, of course, you are a student who lives in one of the 14.4% of areas listed above.

With all this in mind, the county commissioners hired a national firm Wednesday to help improve broadband access to communities along the county’s eastern border that have spotty service.

The commissioners voted to hire AECOM for $24,937 to identify service providers and apply for some of the $1.16 billion in federal Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment money that was allocated to the state last year to deploy broadband infrastructure to ensure everybody has access to reliable and affordable high-speed internet service.

Knowing more students will have access to educators on the internet, knowing access to banking and medical records will make lives easier for more Americans, knowing somebody who’s looking for a job may have an easier time because of expanded internet access is a good thing.

— RJ