LUMBERTON — Students in Robeson County’s public schools are able to park next to a school bus and access Wi-Fi during the last three days of the academic year, which ends Friday, disrupted by COVID-19.

The Public Schools of Robeson County has made available Wi-Fi hot spots in underserved areas across the county through the Park and Learn Program.

Gov. Roy Cooper announced on March 6 that 280 school buses would be equipped with connectivity devices paid for by AT&T, Google and Duke Energy Foundation in order to give more school children access to the internet for remote learning, according to the governor’s office. The equipment was to be placed on buses already delivering meals to the children, and Robeson County was among about 30 county school districts selected to participate first in the program.

The state has made 10 hot spots available to the school district, said Robert Locklear, assistant superintendent for Curriculum, Instruction and Accountability.

The hot spots were placed on school buses that traveled to various areas in the county beginning Wednesday. Buses were operated by drivers employed by the school system.

“Free broadband access, or connectivity, for remote instruction will be available in school parking lots, community partners, businesses and churches during select hours,” said Gordon Burnette, PSRC public information officer.

The hot spot device is placed just outside the bus driver’s window, he said. The signal can be received clearly up to about 150 feet away from the bus. The strongest signal can be obtained by parking near the front of the school bus.

“All students and residents in that schools’ feeder district will have access to broadband internet via the hot spot,” Burnette said.

People using the Wi-Fi should remain in their vehicles and adhere to social distancing measures.

Teachers without Wi-Fi also are encouraged to use the Park and Learn Program to complete school work, he said. Area residents may also use the internet to connect to health-care providers, apply for unemployment and access other critical information and services.

The internet can be accessed by joining the Wi-Fi network titled SchoolBusinternet. The title includes a a four-digit number that is different for each hot spot. No password is required to connect to the internet.

Lumberton Senior High School bus driver Shirley Hill parked Wednesday afternoon in the parking lot of the Food Lion on West Fifth Street in Lumberton ready to provide community members and students access to free Wi-Fi.

Hill said the initiative is a good idea, not only for students, but also county residents who cannot afford internet services.

“I think it’s a great idea to provide resources to people who might not be able to get it because of being out of work because of COVID-19,” Hill said.

She traveled to West Fifth Street after a stop at Morgan Britt Apartments on N.C. 72 at 9 a.m., she said. Thursday she’ll drive to Magnolia Elementary School and Morgan Britt Apartments. Hill will revisit the apartments and Food Lion again on Friday.

Other hot spot sites and the schools they serve are:

— Lumberton Junior High School – Thursday from noon to 3 p.m., True Believers Church of the Almighty God Church, located at 2640 Seventh St. in Lumberton; Friday in the LJHS parking lot from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.

— South Robeson Intermediate School – Thursday from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. in the school’s parking lot; Friday from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. at Rowland Middle School, located at 408 West Chapel St. in Rowland.

— R.B. Dean-Townsend Elementary School – Thursday at Stealth Drive on U.S. 501 near Marson Road in Maxon from 1:30 p.m to 3:30 p.m.; Friday from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. at Food Lion, located at 638 N. Patterson St. in Maxton.

— Oxendine Elementary School – Thursday at the school from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 4:10 p.m. to 6 p.m.; noon to 2 p.m. at Red Hill Apartments, located at 4972 Red Hill Road in Maxton; and 2:15 p.m. to 4:15 p.m. at White Oak Fellowship Center Church at 1596 McGirt Road in Maxton; Friday at the school from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. and 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. at Smith’s Volunteer Fire Department, located at 2906 Oxendine School Road.

— Pembroke Middle School – Thursday and Friday from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. at Tabernacle Baptist Church, located at 3764 N.C. 711.

— Orrum Middle School – Thursday and Friday at Orrum Middle School from 10 a.m. to 11 am.; 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at Long Branch Elementary School, located at 10218 N.C. 72; and 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. at Alamac Village in Lumberton.

— Red Springs High School Students – Thursday from noon to 2 p.m. at Tom Cope Baseball Complex, located at 119 Graham St. in Red Springs; Friday at St. Joseph Miracle Center Revival Church, located at 4657 Daniel McLeod Road in Red Springs.

— Lumberton Senior High School – Thursday 8 a.m. to noon at Magnolia Elementary School, located at 10928 U.S. 301 North in Lumberton; and Friday from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at Morgan Britt Apartments, located at 100 Oxendine Circle in Lumberton.

— St. Pauls Elementary and Middle schools – Thursday from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. in the Tolarsville Road area near Great Marsh Church, Bessie Roberts, Monroe and Martin roads; Friday from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. in the Lombardy Village Road area near Quick, Crenshaw, New Bethel Church roads and N.C. 20 East.

In other internet connectivity news, the University of North Carolina at Pembroke is providing exterior wireless to students, faulty and guests in various locations on and off campus, said Mark Locklear, UNCP Public Communications specialist.

“Students and employees who already use campus wireless will connect automatically to BraveWifi. Community guests can access wireless in these locations as well by choosing the UNCP_Guest wireless network and entering the requested information,” he said.

Internet access can be found in the following locations:

— Parking Lot 26 near Village Apartments’ Building 5;

— Parking Lot 10 near Wellons Hall;

— Parking Lot 7 at Jacobs Hall;

— The north end of Parking Lot 23, near the Dogwood Building;

— Thomas Entrepreneurship Hub, located at 202 Main St. at the front parking lot next to the railroad track.

“There is currently no end date established for the wireless access,” said Jodi Phelps, chief Communications and Marketing officer at the university. “We want to be responsive to the needs of our faculty, staff, students and community.”

Phelps said the university is searching for grants to extend the services to additional areas on campus.