March 19, 2024

NCSD approves purchases of technology equipment

New iPads, Chromebooks coming to Newton schools

Newton schools will have updated technology equipment this upcoming school year, following the school board’s approval of a few purchases at Monday night’s board meeting.

Among the major purchases were 500 new iPads with cases totaling $216,500 and 305 Acer Chromebooks with cases totaling about $101,500.

The new iPads will be used by the freshman and sophomore classes at Newton High School. The older models being replaced will be distributed among the elementary schools, according to Technology Supervisor Dan Sloan.

Apple will no longer be providing upgrades for the older models, Sloan said, and the batteries of the devices are starting to die. Another issue with the older 8 GB models is limited storage. The new iPads will have 128 GB, which is especially helpful when shooting video.

Sloan recommended the upgrade last year, when students were running out of space on their tablets. With the 8 GB models, students have to continually delete and reinstall applications.

The serial number of each device is tagged to each high school student, so students use the same device year after year. The older models are four years old. At that age, pretty much every electronic device you find these days is outdated, Sloan said.

The new Acer Chromebooks will be utilized by fourth and fifth graders in the school district. In contrast to Apple’s iPads, Google’s Chromebooks are more like a laptop that converts into a tablet.

Newton’s elementary schools will also see the addition of interactive projectors in 2017-18. The school board approved the purchase of 20 projectors with wall mounts for about $32,000. Approximately one projector will be installed per grade level in all the elementaries, Sloan said.

Rather than purchase wall-mounted projectors for the current Berg Middle School that will soon be torn down, the district opted to purchase interactive screens that move on wheels. The four 65-inch screens with built-in computers were purchased from Tierney for about $21,900.

According to Superintendent Bob Callaghan, the interactive rolling screens will serve the common learning spaces in the new Berg building. The middle school piloted one of the displays for a couple weeks, said Berg Principal Lisa Sharp, and is excited about the possibilities of the new technology.

The district is using a combination of SAVE funds and PPEL funds for the technology purchases, Callaghan said. The $60,000 to $70,000 that was saved in recent construction projects also helped pay for the new equipment, he said.

Contact Justin Jagler at 641-792-3121 ext 6532 or jjagler@newtondailynews.com