Board Approves Purchase Of 10,000 Laptops To Aid Remote Learning

PLAINFIELD, IL — During its May 26 meeting, the Plainfield School District 202 Board of Education approved the purchase of 10,000 laptops worth $4.5 million this summer in order to bolster remote learning efforts.

The new laptops will be available for high school students to take home as needed. Or they could be combined with existing classroom computers to also provide enough laptops for middle school students to use at home.

"This purchase is a crucial step to help us build up our existing resources for Remote Learning," said Glenn Wood, assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction.

Wood oversaw the district’s work this spring to quickly implement remote learning when Gov. J.B. Pritzker asked schools in the state to close starting March 16 in an effort to contain the coronavirus.

District 202 has been building its electronic learning system for a few years, Wood said, but had been focusing on providing adequate classroom technology first.

It has bought over 8,000 laptops the past four years to significantly improve the student to device ratio at all levels and to ensure every elementary student can access a computer in the classroom.

The district also focused on providing technical guidance, mentoring and professional development to ensure teachers could efficiently and effectively use technology in the classroom.

"It didn’t make a lot of sense to give students laptops if their teachers didn’t know how to incorporate them into their teaching," Wood said.

But the coronavirus changed everything for all 852 Illinois school districts.

"Even the districts that have given a laptop to all their students were prepared for maybe a couple of snow days of remote learning," he said. "No one was prepared for four to eight weeks of it."

District 202 has surveyed thousands of students, staff, and parents about their remote learning program, to help guide planning for next year, Wood said.

Along with the 10,000 new laptops, more than 80 District 202 teachers are helping design remote learning class plans, Wood said. More than 1,000 teachers have already signed up for remote learning training this summer.

Meanwhile, District 202 administrators are fleshing out plans for three reopening scenarios:

• Opening as usual with appropriate social distancing, face masks, and other health safeguards and facility modifications.
• Opening schools with a limited number of students and staff in buildings and potentially using split schedules, alternating day schedules or some combination or hybrid.
• Keeping schools closed and returning to total Remote Learning or distance learning.

The district’s eventual decision will depend on state guidelines, said superintendent of schools Lane Abrell.

"We will do everything we can to continue teaching, learning and working in a safe environment based on the rules the state gives us," he said. "Nothing is more important than the safety and well-being of our students and staff."