As remote learning possibly continues, HCS considering buying more devices for students
As Horry County Schools prepares for the possibility that remote learning will continue next school year, the district is trying to ensure all students will have access to needed technology.
All South Carolina public schools have been closed by executive order since March 16 to prevent the spread of coronavirus, and state officials have openly questioned how or whether students will be allowed to return to schools for the 2020-21 school year if the virus remains a threat.
HCS has been able to transition to an eLearning curriculum and provided most of its students the ability to borrow electronic devices for home use.
Devices weren’t available for many in the younger grade levels, however, and the district is considering a bulk purchase of iPads to remedy that.
The school board’s Technology Committee met virtually Tuesday to look at the cost and funding options to buy enough devices for all students K-4.
The district already has enough devices for students in grades 5-12, and recently completed a $1.5 million purchase for enough iPads to cover half of students in grades 3-4, according to Velna Allen, chief officer of student services.
Purchasing additional iPads for the other half of grades 3-4 and all students K-2 will cost about $5.4 million for an estimated 13,200 students, according to Allen, who noted that $5.1 million currently remains in the account they use to purchase new technology.
John Gardner, the district’s chief financial officer, explained that the district could use funding it’s projected to receive from the federal CARES Act — estimated to be about $14 million — to pay for the new technology, and he recommended using about $2 million of that funding to cover the cost of new devices.
Committee members discussed providing older devices currently being used by grades 3-4 to students in child development and kindergarten, though Allen warned that those devices will be out of warranty and could soon be incompatible with the programs the district uses.
Allen also noted that the district is planning to spend about $4.5 million in 2021 to replace the middle school students’ Chromebooks and about $8.2 million in 2022 to replace high school students’ laptops.
Superintendent Rick Maxey warned that other school districts nationwide are likely considering purchasing more technology, so while an Apple representative has told them they currently have the inventory to fill the district’s order, demand could quickly deplete that inventory if the district moves too slowly.
The committee members voted to recommend using current district funds to purchase more devices for grades 3-4 and preparing to use CARES Act funding to purchase needed devices for grades K-2.
The full school board will discuss the plan during its June 1 meeting and prepare to vote on it during its June 8 meeting.
This story was originally published May 26, 2020 at 5:26 PM.
