Chief Operations Officer Chris Trotter presented a request to the board for the purchase of 16,000 Apple iPads with three years of AppleCare coverage for districtwide student use at a cost not to exceed $5.3 million. A large part of the cost will be covered by remaining funds from the 2016 bond.
The details
Students are working with dated devices across the district, with the last iPad purchase occurring in 2016. District officials opted to replace all devices in bulk rather than take a staggered approach given a favorable bid from Apple for a purchase before Dec. 31 and the importance of the devices for electronic testing, Trotter said.
“We have a handful of devices that can handle one more update, but we are at a position that this is the best plan of action for the school district,” Trotter said.
Superintendent Brad Hunt echoed the sentiment, noting an incident last year when Coppell High School students experienced disruptive issues during PSAT testing that was partially due to the aging devices.
What's next?
Following the sale, Educational Service Solutions officials will outfit the new devices with barcodes and cases featuring a keyboard and a stylus with features similar to the Apple pencil, Trotter said. Company officials will then install standard updates before devices are rolled out on campuses.
The goal is to have devices ready for use before April testing with a scheduled delivery in the first three days that month. The new devices are expected to have a life cycle between five to seven years, he said.
“We worked with the technology department, the instructional technologist and the librarians throughout the district to see if we could implement them in a timely manner,” Trotter said.
