MONROE — The School District of Monroe Board of Education unanimously approved a Chromebook and computer purchase for more than $160,000 at its meeting May 11. Each student in the district will now have a device available to them and teachers will have more suitable computers while providing online instruction.
Business Administrator Ron Olson said the recommendation was because of the “uncertainty” that looms as to what the fall start of the school year will look like. There is a possibility, he said, that more remote instruction and learning would continue.
He said “time is of the essence” for the technology purchase, since many schools are looking to do the same in light of COVID-19 and rules put in place by Gov. Tony Evers that limit group sizes to help stop the spread of the coronavirus.
“Districts all over the nation are lining up to get Chromebooks,” Olson said, noting that there is already “getting to be a shortage of Chromebook availability” and they didn’t want to have the technology get pushed back and not arrive in time for school to start.
Chromebooks were already 1:1 for students in fourth through twelfth grades in Monroe.
The board approved 80 new touch Chromebooks to be purchased for the K-first grade levels at $24,400 and 170 Chromebooks to be purchased for second graders at $33,320.
Teachers providing remote learning will have their Chromebooks replaced with 200 computers that offer a larger monitor, more memory and RAM to help with video instruction at a cost of $65,200. The Chromebooks the teachers were using will be assigned to third graders.
There will also be a three-year warranty for repairs at a cost of $24,300, and Google licensing fees at $25 per device adding up to $11,250. There is also a $5 rapid deployment fee that adds up to $2,250, so that all Chromebooks arrive updated with the school’s software and are prepared with serial numbers and electronic inventory for students to use immediately to expedite the process. The total cost of all of the technology is $160,720.
Olson said at the next meeting they’ll ask the board to look at existing devices, however, he said they’re looking to extend a warranty for computers they already own to use them for an additional year, saving about 1/8 of the cost.
Funding will come from the technology budget, Olson said, however, eventually, the school hopes to receive federal funding to help cover costs associated with online learning. They are hoping to receive funds from the CARES Act, a federal stimulus bill passed by congress in light of COVID-19. The governor’s plan on how to distribute the money should be released within the next week. If not, Olson said there are other savings that will loosen up funding from the technology budget, including savings from less substitute teachers and transportation costs.