Kansas has 69 districts with slow internet - here are the 10 slowest

Access to high-speed internet in schools has come a long way in the last decade. In 2013, 70% of U.S. schools lacked an internet connection of 100 Kbps per student, the minimum speed the Federal Communication Commission set to meet basic classroom needs. By 2018, fewer than 2% of schools failed to meet that threshold.

As more schools integrate technology into the classroom, the need for fast, reliable internet is even greater. In 2020, the FCC upped the bandwidth minimum to 1 Mbps per student—10 times faster than the previous minimum. Nearly 6 in 10 school districts met or exceeded that benchmark in 2021—a 25% increase year over year, according to an analysis from Connect K-12.

Nearly 28 million U.S. students attend schools where internet speeds do not meet the FCC guidelines.

Stacker compiled a list of school districts in Kansas with the slowest internet speeds using data from Connect K-12. School districts are ranked by internet speed in Mbps. Ties are broken by the number of students in the school district.

#10. Twin Valley Unified School District 240
- Bandwidth per student: 0.35 Mbps
- Total students: 569
- Cost per Mbps: $6
- Total monthly cost: $1,200.00

#9. Pittsburg Unified District 250
- Bandwidth per student: 0.35 Mbps
- Total students: 3,104
- Cost per Mbps: $2.37
- Total monthly cost: $2,374.66

#8. Valley Center Unified School District
- Bandwidth per student: 0.35 Mbps
- Total students: 3,131
- Cost per Mbps: $1.39
- Total monthly cost: $1,386.80

#7. Hays Unified School District 489
- Bandwidth per student: 0.34 Mbps
- Total students: 3,252
- Cost per Mbps: $1.75
- Total monthly cost: $1,747.24

#6. Garden City Unified School District 457
- Bandwidth per student: 0.34 Mbps
- Total students: 7,389
- Cost per Mbps: $1.94
- Total monthly cost: $3,871.00

#5. Onaga Unified School District 322
- Bandwidth per student: 0.33 Mbps
- Total students: 304
- Cost per Mbps: $1.93
- Total monthly cost: $193.15

#4. Renwick Unified School District 267
- Bandwidth per student: 0.32 Mbps
- Total students: 1,871
- Cost per Mbps: $2.92
- Total monthly cost: $1,749.00

#3. Augusta Unified School District 402
- Bandwidth per student: 0.32 Mbps
- Total students: 2,272
- Cost per Mbps: $6.1
- Total monthly cost: $4,272.00

#2. Southern Lyon Co School District 252
- Bandwidth per student: 0.18 Mbps
- Total students: 553
- Cost per Mbps: $37
- Total monthly cost: $3,700.00

#1. Hiawatha Unified School District 415
- Bandwidth per student: 0.05 Mbps
- Total students: 987
- Cost per Mbps: $17
- Total monthly cost: $850.00