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LAPLACE – St. John the Baptist Parish Public Schools will likely gain funding from the trickle down of federal stimulus money, according to Interim Superintendent Cory Butler.

After a conversation last week with acting State Superintendent Beth Scioneaux, Butler introduced the School Board to a technology upgrade plan to provide laptops to all students and teachers for the 2020-2021 school year.

“There is a possibility that money is going to be allocated and deemed for technology,” Butler said.

Technology upgrades were discussed prior to the coronavirus closing schools, according to Butler. He said now is the time to look at the model other districts are following to ensure all children have the tools they need to be successful in and outside of the classroom.

“The state has given us options to look into for low cost internet services, but that does no good if there’s no computer in the house, so we have to address it on both ends,” Butler said.

Access to wi-fi is another consideration, and Butler noted that a district in Georgia addressed this need by purchasing wi-fi hotspots and placing them in parked buses around the neighborhood.

Providing laptops to every K-12 student in St. John the Baptist Parish would require the purchase of 2,621 laptops, according to David Andras, supervisor of information technology. This includes the replacement of approximately 400-500 pre-existing, damaged machines.

There are currently about 4,000 laptops in the district, according to Andras. About 500 machines are needed for teachers.

Purchase of laptops, providing home wi-fi for students, maintenance, software, back-ups, network security and training are included in the expenses for an estimated overall cost of $3.7 million.

“There’s a lot of variables to hammer out. The price could drop,” Andras said. “The cost is dependent on how many students need internet access.”

While the upgraded technology could go live for the next school year, Andras said it will require “massive training sessions” for teachers over the summer.

School Board member Debbie Schum asked about the possibility of calculating costs of having one machine per household, rather than one machine per student. She also questioned whether giving laptops to students in grades K-2 would be the best use of resources.

Schum said young children might require a different type of machine better suited to their dexterity. Butler responded that the school district has discussed purchasing protective cases for the laptops.

Andras said the information technology staff is not large enough to accommodate different types of machines specific to different grade levels, such as the use of iPads and Chromebooks in the lower grades. Under the tentative technology upgrade plan, all students would receive the same Windows laptop.

School Board President Patrick Sanders said even the youngest children need access to technology to build a strong educational foundation.

“It’s important for K-2 to be prepared to utilize this equipment as they move to 3-12, so let’s keep this in mind at well,” Sanders said.

Board members Ali Burl III and Charo Holden agreed that all grade levels should be able to receive laptops.