Students whose parents have unpaid bills aren't being let online, even as companies offer free internet to students amid the coronavirus crisis

• Charter announced last month that it would provide 60 days of free Spectrum internet to families with K-12 or college students in order "to ease the strain in this challenging time."
• School districts across the country - transitioning to online classes as coronavirus shutdowns keep students at home - promoted the offer at Charter's behest.
• But families told Business Insider that they learned they were ineligible for the offer, either because they already have active Spectrum accounts or had outstanding bills on old Spectrum accounts.
• A Charter spokesperson confirmed that the offer does not apply to people with existing Spectrum accounts, including those with outstanding bills on old accounts.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

When Charter announced last month that it would provide 60 days of free Spectrum internet to families with K-12 students, Maria Castillo was relieved.

The Queens mom had just been furloughed from her retail job, and her son's third-grade class was moving to online learning as schools closed due to the coronavirus outbreak. His school provided a laptop, but Castillo couldn't afford home WiFi, and other bills were piling up without a clear source of income.

Castillo called Spectrum and spent hours on hold - but when she finally reached a representative, she was told she was ineligible for the free internet because she owed Spectrum $285 from 2015.

"Obviously paying that isn't an option for me right now," Castillo told Business Insider. "I don't know what I'm going to do at this point."

Last month, Chalkbeat New York's Reema Amin reported that Optimum and Spectrum - which both announced free internet promotions for students - were turning away New York City families with outstanding bills. Following Amin's reporting, Optimum changed course to waive the rule banning families with outstanding bills. Spectrum has not changed its policy.

Parents and teachers across the US told Business Insider that they were blocked from Spectrum's free internet offer due to outstanding bills or because they're already Spectrum customers, including in areas where Spectrum is the only broadband internet provider.

A Charter spokesperson confirmed in a statement to Business Insider that the company's offer of free Spectrum internet does not apply to existing customers - including those with outstanding balances on old bills.

Students left in the dark

Collin Eckburg, a first-grade teacher in Madison, Wisconsin, told Business Insider that her elementary school - which serves several low-income neighborhoods - touted Spectrum's offer to students and families after it was announced. Soon, she started getting calls from parents saying they were not eligible due to outstanding bills.

Eckburg called Spectrum on the parents' behalf and was told the same thing. Eckburg's class has already begun online learning using Google Classroom, but she estimates that roughly one-third of her students have been unable to get WiFi at home.

For many families, most of which live within a mile of the school, Spectrum is the only broadband internet provider in the area.

"I'm calling Spectrum and the message when you're on hold is like, 'Connecting you when it matters most.' That's what really sent me over the edge," Eckburg said. "These parents are really trying to be proactive and set up internet for their kids, but the reality is looking like not everybody is going to be connected ... What outcomes will that have for students and their academic success for years to come?"

Jaclyn Kelley, a mom in Jewett, Ohio, said she and her husband recently cancelled their Charter cable subscription because it was no longer affordable. Finances are tight for Kelley, who is "very pregnant" and not working at the moment, but she needs to maintain internet service to keep in touch with her husband while he's at work and for her daughter's elementary school classes, which moved online last month.

She saw Charter's announcement last month that it was offering 60 days of free Spectrum internet promotion "to ease the strain in this challenging time." But when she called Spectrum, Kelley was told that the offer was not available to existing customers.

"There's absolutely no other providers where I am and barley any service," Kelley told Business Insider.

Even for people who aren't already Spectrum customers, the 60-day free internet offer requires that new users sign up with a method of payment that will be billed once the 60-day period ends. That alone has discouraged some financially insecure families from signing up, Eckburg, the teacher in Wisconsin, said.

"They're a business too, and I get that - it's not just a generosity thing," Eckburg said. "The bottom line is, now
certain populations of students are getting access to new learning and new curriculum, and others aren't."