What you need to know
Barnwell said instructional devices like Chromebooks and iPads reach their useful lifespan typically within six years, necessitating an ongoing replacement schedule.
The department report notes that student device replacements will spike in 2026-27, with 7,285 devices needing to be replaced during that school year. Overall district technology replacements, Community Impact reported in January, would total roughly $6.27 million over the next three years. A similar number of 7,345 student device replacements is pegged for the 2032-33 school year.
The department’s goal is to have devices available on a needs-based 1-to-1 basis, looking at enrollment and student schedules to determine a device number threshold which complies with Texas Education Agency recommendations.
“We know that as students use devices and they’re incorporated into digital learning, it increases their engagement,” Barnwell said. “It also increases their growth year over year, so we’re trying to make sure we have devices across all of our campuses, for all of our students, as often as possible.”
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Technology doesn’t stop at just instructional devices, but also includes the upkeep of district infrastructure like miles of owned fiber and other equipment. This infrastructure provides safety features like card access to doors, security cameras and what Barnwell called “critical content filtering” on campuses.
“[It’s] not just physical security on campuses, but also critical cybersecurity for our students, that tries to keep their data as safe as possible [and] students as safe as possible on the internet [when] they have those devices in their hands,” Barnwell said.
Technology needs, along with the needs of the athletics, fine arts and CTE departments, will be taken under further consideration during the formation of the Bond Planning Committee.
