Poudre School District Board of Education approved the purchase of thousands of laptops and other devices the district said they needed in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
The board unanimously approved the more than $7.4 million in emergency COVID-19 spending for these devices and other materials during a meeting Tuesday.
According to the board agenda, the approval came after Superintendent Sandra Smyser emailed the board July 2 about these "high-priority purchases" the district would need to prepare for the variety of learning environments the district could face this school year, including remote, in-person or hybrid learning.
These purchases include laptops, iPads, personal WiFi devices and cleaning devices.
The expenses were charged to either the district's COVID Response Reserve or to the technology refresh program budget. About $3.6 million in purchases will be charged to the COVID Response Reserve:
- About $2.2 million: 6,000 Lenovo Chromebooks and 280 laptop carts for K-2 students, including warranty and accidental damage coverage.
- About $521,500: 1,250 iPads.
- Estimated $550,000: 2,070 MiFi (personal WiFi) devices.
- About $332,500: 210 handheld and 70 backpack electrostatic disinfectant sprayers to sanitize schools and buses.
About $3.9 million in purchases will be charged to the district's technology refresh program budget:
- About $2.8 million: 6,387 Lenovo Windows-based machines, including warranty and accidental damage coverage. This purchase was part of the district's normal technology refresh program for grades 3-12.
- About $1.1. million: 1,992 Dell laptops . This purchase was issued in May and previously approved by the board.
The district purchased 2,020 MiFi devices from T-Mobile and another 50 from Verizon, which were selected primarily because they were available to ship immediately, according to the board agenda.
About 30,000 laptops and other materials have been distributed to K-12 students this week and last ahead of the start of school this week. The district distributed technology to all students who needed it as part of the plan for all students to learn remotely through at least Oct. 16, the first quarter of the 2020-21 school year.
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Previously, the district told families they did not have enough laptops on hand to give K-2 students devices for remote learning. They purchased devices earlier in the summer, but due to global supply chain issues, those devices are not expected to arrive until the fall.
After surveying families about if their children already had access to a laptop to do remote learning, the district was able to redistribute devices to families who didn't already have access. Once the district receives the new devices they ordered, IT will help get those devices to families, Noblett previously told the Coloradoan.
The district made other purchases in response to the coronavirus that were less than $250,000, so they were not required to be presented to the board, district spokesperson Madeline Noblett said in an email. Details about those purchases were not available Tuesday afternoon.
District officials are authorized to make emergency purchases and submit written explanations of all purchases explaining the emergency situation to the executive director of finance and the superintendent. If the purchase exceeds $250,000, an explanation must also be provided to the Board of Education.
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In May, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis directed $547 million of CARES Act money to the Colorado Department of Education to distribute to K-12 schools across the state to offset expenses and lost revenue related to the coronavirus and efforts to slow its spread.
PSD was allocated $12.9 million from the Coronavirus Relief Fund, which comes with federal restrictions and had to be spent by December 2020 or it would be forfeited. Because of those constraints, the district was unsure how it would be able to use the funds and what all they might be able to cover, the board discussed at a June meeting.
By working with an auditor, the district was able to use all those funds this school year to cover costs the district incurred for personal protective equipment, technology needs and salaries and benefits of licensed staff who had different job responsibilities due to the coronavirus pandemic.
That means the district was able to save $12.9 million in general fund dollars from the 2019-20 budget and roll those funds into reserves, providing more flexibility to respond to coronavirus-related needs next school year.
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Content coach Sarah Kyle contributed to this article.
Sady Swanson covers crime, courts, public safety and more throughout Northern Colorado. You can send your story ideas to her at sswanson@coloradoan.com or on Twitter at @sadyswan. Support our work and local journalism with a digital subscription at Coloradoan.com/subscribe.
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Poudre School District board approves more than $7M in COVID-19 spending for new technology - Coloradoan
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