The Brownwood ISD Board of Trustees received a report on Monday regarding the current state of technology used at the school district along with a look at what the future might hold.
Brownwood ISD Technology Director Edward Yantis reported that the district’s technology department currently oversees over 3500 computers total. Yantis said that now every teacher in the district has been issued a laptop along with all students from 8th-12th grade with more on the way.
“In my opinion, we had a very successful rollout this year,” Yantis said. “We rolled out over 900 laptops at the High School which if you remember is how many be bought originally.”
With higher enrollment and more grant money coming in, the district has expanded their 1:1 initiative and brought more laptops into the schools for student and teacher use.
Yantis said that in addition to the High School, since school began, 22 laptops were issued at the Accelerated High School, approximately 250 to the Middle School 8th grade class, and several dozen laptops to teachers at the elementary schools. The school district is looking to issue laptops prior to the start of school next school year so students have them for use on the first day of school.
As part of the new Connections Grant of $850,000 that the district is going to receive, 250 laptops are being ordered for the Middle School’s 7th graders.
BISD Superintendent Reece Blincoe shared his vision of where he thinks schools could shift in the use of more inexpensive technological devices such as the iPad in the future, but that will be a few years away.
“Everyday… there is another step made with the iPad,” Blincoe said. “Do we still think there is still 10 or 20 more steps that need to be made, yes. But I think that is where we eventually go.”
