Kingston schools move up plan to buy laptops
The Kingston school district expects to roll out plans to distribute Google Chromebook laptop computers to students this spring instead of waiting until fall, as initially planned.
At a Board of Education meeting Wednesday afternoon, trustees approved spending $658,106 for 545 Chromebooks, 334 desktops systems, and related equipment needed for installation and storage.
Superintendent of Schools Paul Padalino said the distribution plan still is being developed but is expected to be ready by Monday, March 23.
“We don’t really know right now how many of our students have their own devices and how many don’t,” Padalino said. “That’s one of the unknowns . ... So we’ve actually put a survey up on our website (kingstoncityschools.org) for people to go in and fill out and give us a range of numbers.”
The district expects to give priority to Kingston High School seniors.
Padalino said the plan was to give all students a device next year if they didn’t have one already, but that the closing of public schools due to the coronavirus outbreak is forcing administrators to accelerate the move.
“We’re just being forced to push a little further,” Padalino said. “We’ve been moving away from the desktop computer to more of a one-to-one device per kid . ... If this had happened next year at this time, we would be much more prepared.”
Schools are closed this week and next because of the virus, though district officials acknowledge the shutdown could last longer.