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GREENWOOD, Ind. (AP) — Six years after giving every third- through fifth-grader their own device to use for writing papers, research and online textbooks, one local school district is looking at spending another $120,000 to replace them.
Nineveh-Hensley-Jackson schools is planning to buy new Chromebooks next school year to replace the 6-year-old netbooks the intermediate school currently uses. The school district will purchase between 400 and 425 Chromebooks at $300 apiece and will use money from textbook rental fees and the property-tax-funded capital projects fund to cover the cost, Superintendent Timothy Edsell said.
Officials also are changing how long students keep their iPads and working to get devices into more first- and second-grade classrooms.
The goal is to have more reliable devices for students to use throughout the time they are in school, Edsell said.
The majority of Johnson County school districts have purchased new technology during the past five years so students have more access to computers in the classroom.
Some school districts, like Center Grove and Indian Creek, are close to each student having their own iPad or Chromebook to use. Franklin schools recently purchased 1,600 Chromebooks for $500,000 and is working toward purchasing Chromebooks for all middle school students.
Center Grove will be getting new devices for sixth- and seventh-grade students this year, replacing their 6-year-old mobile labs where iPads travel from room to room. Edinburgh purchases 90 laptops every summer for incoming freshmen.
Other school districts aren't ready to buy devices for each student.
Greenwood schools are purchasing about 300 tablets during the summer, at a cost of $535 per tablet, which will be used mainly in social studies courses. The cost will be covered by a combination of the school district's capital projects fund and textbook rental fees, Superintendent Kent DeKoninck.
Clark-Pleasant, which does not provide a laptop or iPad to each student, has not decided if the school district will purchase devices for students during the summer.
Greenwood is not working toward providing a device to every student, since officials would then need to plan how to replace tablets or laptops once they are outdated or broken, DeKoninck said.
That is one of the key concerns for schools: finding the money to replace devices as they wear out. For example, an iPad and Chromebook are expected to last at least four years.
Franklin schools want to purchase Chromebooks for middle school students, but the district needs to come up with the money. The first set of Chromebooks for middle school students would cost the school about $228,000. But the school district still needs to factor in about $480,000 to replace high school students' Chromebooks that were purchased last year.
Indian Creek charges students a fee each year to cover both the cost of the Chromebook and for replacing the device once it is outdated or broken.
So, despite the cost of the new Chromebooks, students' annual textbook rental fees will only change by a few pennies, Edsell said. Textbook fees will stay about $145 for an intermediate school student this fall, Edsell said.
The current netbooks lasted five or six years, which was longer than originally anticipated, but the school kept them for longer due to the cost, Edsell said. With the new Chromebooks, officials will reassess the need to purchase new laptops again in four years or see if they can last another year, he said. The school will be able to pay for new devices in four years with money from textbook rental fees that students pay every year.
Schools also make sure the cost to repair devices is figured in.
Since 2009, Edinburgh has given third- through 12th-grade students laptops, and the program is self-sustaining with money collected in textbook rental fees, which include the cost of the laptop over four years, Straugh said. By the time the students graduate, the laptops are typically so worn out that they aren't worth saving, technology director Bob Straugh said. So once seniors graduate, Edinburgh gives the laptops to the student to use for college or at home.
Extra costs for maintenance or upkeep, like replacing cracked screens, are either charged to the school or parents.
The technology department can order a new screen for about $50. If a student cracks the screen by accident, the school will cover the cost, but if the screen is cracked on purpose or recklessly, parents pay the repair fee.
At Center Grove, money is included in students' textbook rental fees at the beginning of the year to cover the cost of one repair, like a broken screen. After the first repair, parents have to pay the cost of additional maintenance, chief technology officer Jason Taylor said.
Accidents happen, but it is obvious if a student cracks a screen on purpose, Straugh said. He has witnessed students chucking their backpacks onto the ground once they walk into a classroom, which has led to cracked screens.
With their new devices, Indian Creek Intermediate School is offering a new insurance policy for $8.38 per year. If a screen is broken, a parent would pay a $20 co-pay for the first repair needed, then $30 for the second repair. Otherwise, the parents would be paying for the full cost of repairs, Edsell said. Parents also have the option of including the devices on their own homeowners' insurance, Edsell said.
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Source: Franklin Daily Journal, http://bit.ly/1Djjkcx
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Information from: Daily Journal, http://www.dailyjournal.net
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