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South Fayette High School students to receive HP devices

By Harry Funk 2 min read
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South Fayette Township High School students will be provided with computers for the start of the next academic year.

The school board on March 21 approved a four-year lease for 1,200 HP EliteBook Revolve computer-tablet hybrid units, at an annual fee of $362,685.

For 2015-16, students in third through eighth grades were furnished with the same model, which will not be manufactured after next year, according to Superintendent Billie Rondinelli. That consideration weighed into the administration changing its original recommendation to begin leasing 400 computers in each of the next three years.

“Then we’d be operating with different devices, somewhat similar, but different,” Rondinelli explained. “So if we were to get them this year, we would be getting the same device that we already have in our district. In addition we would be able to outfit the high school grades 10, 11 and 12, in addition to the ninth grade.”

Next year’s freshmen will be permitted “to take their laptops with them so they are not without a device after having been with a device,” she said. Following seniors’ graduation, their devices will go to third-graders.

The larger quantity resulted in a degree of savings from HP Inc., according to Michael Loughead, assistant superintendent.

“For 400 devices vs. the 1,200 devices, they were able to save us 9.7 percent per device,” he said.

To help offset the cost of the lease, Gene Manzini, network systems administrator, recommended waiting a year to upgrade the district’s backup servers, which would remove a $119,176 expenditure from the 2016-17 budget. He also said two computer-related leases are scheduled to expire, freeing up another $30,000-plus.

HP units also will be provided to about 75 to 90 high school staff members, Manzini said, and the lease includes roughly 100 devices for use by new students as the district’s enrollment continues to grow substantially.

With the school board approving the lease, administrators can proceed with having the units delivered in April, providing enough time to configure them in-house and have them ready for teachers by the end of the school year, Loughead said. Students will receive them when they return to class in August.

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