Laptops purchased for Silver Lake USD 372's technology initiative - Topeka Capital Journal

The Silver Lake Unified School District 372’s technology initiative has taken another step with the board of education’s approval to purchase 120 laptops on Wednesday.

Superintendent Tim Hallacy said the Google Chromebooks will cost $39,960 and will be distributed to the seventh- and eighth-grade students during the second semester that begins in January. He said the pilot is part of the district’s “1:1” initiative that is allowing students to take the devices home to do school work. Hallacy said the high school students are expected to receive their laptops in August at the beginning of the 2017-18 school year.

During the board’s Oct. 12 meeting, Brad Womack, principal of Silver Lake Junior-Senior High School, said he and his staff have researched what other area districts have done related to user agreements and insurance.

“The big thing right now is how we want it to function,” Womack said last month of the technology initiative. “We want to do what’s right for us and how that works for our buildings and our district.”

As part of the 1:1 initiative, Hallacy said in October he expects USD 372 will charge a technology fee that will include the traditional textbook fees that were charged before. However, he said he doesn’t expect that fee to increase.

“I don’t see our fees rising in the near term,” Hallacy said. “That kind of change will allow us to use those dollars for a better purpose.”

Womack added that he has found that breakage of devices is generally “very low.” He also said when the high school and junior high goes fully to the 1:1, there will be filters enabled to restrict what websites students access at school and at home with the district-issued laptop. The 1:1 initiative at Silver Lake Elementary began in August with the third- through sixth-grade students using their Chromebooks only at school.

Also on Wednesday, Hallacy said board members approved the $17,038 purchase of screen printing equipment for the high school.

“This is the first phase of what will be our graphic design capabilities,” he said, adding that high school students are going to begin printing T-shirts to sell. He said it’s part of the district’s continuing efforts to promote student-run entrepreneurial activities like the high school bank and students taking photos at various USD 327 events they sell to the public.

“We’re bringing in real world examples that provide relevance to our curriculum,” Hallacy said.

Contact Angela Deines at (785) 295-1143 or follow her on Twitter @AngelaDeines.

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