Schools

School District Buys 1,300 Laptops

Chartiers Valley will spend $1.064 million on the Hewlett-Packard laptops

Chartiers Valley School Board agreed to purchase more than 1,300 laptop computers for each of its high school students and teachers as the district moves to implement a one-to-one project-based curriculum.

The board voted unanimously Tuesday night to spend $1.064 million on the Hewlett-Packard laptops after considering a similar bid by Apple.

School board members said they thought both proposals were strong, but HP’s bid came in $240,000 less and offered more protections in the event a computer is lost or broken. Moreover, Chartiers Valley already uses many Microsoft programs, meaning the district would be able to transition more smoothly than it would by switching to Mac.

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“I want the quickest path to project-based learning,” said Superintendent Brian White Jr., who added that he personally prefers Mac. “I don’t want to have to teach a new system.”

The district began researching in October about whether it was feasible to put a laptop computer in the hands of every high student. , asking them what types of tools they would prefer before meeting with the computer manufacturers later that month.

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“It will dramatically change things,” White said. “I think it’s going to be an exciting move for us.”

White said the district will now begin working on a “rollout plan” and has not decided exactly when the computers will be given students.

The school will be using a Hewlett-Packard ProBook 4430 laptop with a 14-inch monitor screen. The bid offers a three-year protection warranty and an engraved logo that might deter thieves from stealing the computers.

 

Also during the meeting…

-Jeff Macek presented to the board what a new engineering academy would looking like if implemented in the middle and high schools. The academy would include engineering, manufacturing and construction and communications courses. Macek said the academy would be a good opportunity for students to see whether they like engineering before deciding to pursue it as a career.

-The school board approved the hiring of all the fall sports coaching positions, except girls’ varsity basketball.


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