District to consider letting students keep school-issued laptops after graduation

The district might give the used laptops to students or sell students the laptops at low cost.


School Board Chairman Trevor Tucker, left, talks during a board workshop. Superintendent Jacob Oliva is at right. (Photo by Jonathan Simmons)
School Board Chairman Trevor Tucker, left, talks during a board workshop. Superintendent Jacob Oliva is at right. (Photo by Jonathan Simmons)
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One of the initiatives the school district is most proud of is its one-to-one program that pairs students with technology — either an iPad or a MacBook — to make sure the kids have access to computers for their classwork and homework.

School Board member Colleen Conklin suggested at a board workshop May 2 that the district might be able to build on that program by letting students keep the computers after they graduate from high school, or by letting the students purchase them for a reduced price.

The board had looked into that possibility in the past, but there were legal or regulatory restrictions at the time that kept the district from giving the computers to the students for free, Conklin said.

Since then, however, Duval County’s school district has been providing its used laptops to students, and Conklin suggested the district look into how that district managed to do so lawfully.

“It might be worth having an update at a future workshop,” Conklin said.

The Duval County program sells used computers to students for $50, according to the Duval County Public Schools webpage.

School Board member Andy Dance said the district could offer to let students buy their used laptops at graduation for market value.

“After five years of use or five students, it doesn’t do any good for us to hold them,” Dance said.

The computers might have to be wiped or reformatted to make that possible, Dance said.

School district to take public comment on Code of Conduct

The school district is placing its proposed Code of Conduct for the upcoming year up for public comment for a 30-day period before the School Board will vote on whether to approve it.

The code is actually split into two codes this year: the Elementary Code of Student Conduct and the Secondary Code of Student Conduct.

Changes from last year's code are minor, district staff said. The proposed Elementary Code of Student Conduct can be viewed HERE. The Secondary Code of Student Conduct can be viewed HERE.

 

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