Bethel Park purchasing nearly 1,900 Chromebooks for students
Nearly every middle and high school student will have their own laptop after the Bethel Park School Board agreed to purchase hundreds of new computers at the May 26 meeting.
The district started the $1.3 million one-to-one technology program about a year ago by purchasing more than 2,000 Chromebooks, which are relatively inexpensive laptops running Google’s operating system. Some students, mostly in the middle and elementary schools, started using the laptops this year.
Next year, the district will have about 1,900 additional Chromebooks to cover nearly all students from grades three to 12. Students will be able to take laptops home starting in the seventh grade and they will return them once the school year ends.
Cost for the new student laptops and accessories will be $684,451. The program is designed to provide all students with access to laptops, which will then be used in nearly every class.
The school board also approved about $190,000 of other technology purchases, including laptops for teachers and an upgrade to the district’s Internet line.
The program is part of a multi-year plan, and after this latest round, the bulk of the purchases will be complete. Matt Howard, assistant to the superintendent, said future plans under the program might be to purchase more tablet computers for children in kindergarten and first grades.
The district offers an insurance plan to cover any expenses incurred due to accidents. Parents can purchase coverage for about $30 a year, but they will still be responsible for repair and replacement costs if the laptop is lost or abused.
In another matter, the board approved a $82.8 million budget that raises the property tax rate by .4487 of a mill. Under the new rate of 22.8763 mills, the owner of a $100,000 house will pay an additional $44.87 a year.
The tax increase is below the state-established index of .53 mills, and school board members praised district administrators for trimming costs despite increasing obligations to employees’ pension plans and other obligations.
“The index is essentially the cost of living. We are actually below the cost of living,” said school director Jim Means.
The board also accepted the resignation of school director Tim Campbell and appointed Barry Christenson to replace him. Christenson is a candidate for school board and is poised to be elected in the fall general election, so school officials contacted him to start serving early.
Campbell, a physician, is busy on a humanitarian mission providing health care to needy individuals in Guatemala.
“He always had the best mix of wit and wisdom to encapsulate what was going on in Bethel Park. He will be missed,” said Superintendent Nancy Aloi Rose.