Copperas Cove ISD students will all receive laptops

COPPERAS COVE, Texas (KWTX)-- All students at Copperas Cove ISD schools will receive laptops of their own this school year.

The school district announced it has reached its one-to-one goal of having enough laptop devices for each student.

All students will be assigned a laptop with their name on it to keep for the entirety of their school years. Elementary school students will have to leave the laptops at school at the end of every day. Middle and High schoolers can take their devices home.

The laptops come with child protection software to prevent students from accessing any inappropriate material on the internet.

The district’s technology director Earl Parcell said the district spent about $1.2 million recently to buy additional laptops to reach their 1 to 1 goal. In total Parcell said 8,000 laptops will be handed out to students.

According to the district, the money to fund the operation came from various grants made available because of the COVID-19 pandemic, such as the CARES Act and the ESSER grants.

“Yes, you’ll have to get it from your bag, but it’s a lot more convenient than having 20 kids in a corner of a room,” said Alyssa Eade, an excited 8th grader. She remembers previous school years when multiple students had to share one classroom computer.

The district, like many others, say they recognized the inequity in access to technology after the pandemic forced schools to go virtual last school year. They say they hope this initiative eases that issue.

“The connects the learner and levels the playing field. So, nobody has to go without,” Parcell said.

As students and their parents sign off to receive the laptops, the district offers for parents to purchase a $25 insurance. The district says it’s to safeguard against damage they’ve seen done to shared devices last year.

District officials are now working toward their next goal of providing each graduating senior with a laptop to take to college with them as a gift from Copperas Cove ISD.

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