BROWNSTOWN
Brownstown Central Community School Corp. will roll out its one-to-one initiative at the start of the 2020-21 school year in August.
When parents and guardians pay school fees, a Chromebook rental fee will be included.
During the April 14 board of trustees meeting, the seven members unanimously approved Chromebooks to be considered a textbook, allowing the corporation to charge that through textbook rental, Superintendent Tim Taylor said.
During the May 12 board meeting, trustees unanimously approved setting the annual fee at $50. Taylor said the corporation can charge up to 25% of the total cost of a Chromebook, and the fee is under that amount.
“We took a lot of things into consideration here,” he said. “I know the principals went back and tried to readjust because we don’t want to put a burden on our families. I think they did a very nice job of that.”
Each student will receive a Chromebook, a case and a charger.
Trustee Gina Hackman asked if insurance will be provided for the devices.
“Due to the devices being old, it’s really tough to find one insurance policy that will apply to a Chromebook that’s older as opposed to a brand-new one,” said Will Hubbard, the corporation’s director of technology. “I think we’re going to explore that option once we do purchase brand-new Chromebooks and start our four-year cycle.”
At the start of the new school year, Hubbard said a list will be provided to students to let them know the cost to replace any parts for their device.
The four-year rotation of purchasing new Chromebooks will start with first, fifth and ninth grades, and Hubbard said students will hold onto those for four years until the next cycle.
During the recent meeting, the board also approved proposed changes to the student and athletic handbooks, student fees and high school language arts textbook adoption for the 2020-21 school year.
Student fees are different for each grade in the elementary, while the fees for middle- and high-schoolers depend on their courses.
Taylor said the high school language arts textbooks also come with an online version.