August 20, 2020 -- As students get ready to return to school in September, instead of learning in-person in the classroom, students will begin the year virtually. Because of this, the district wanted to make sure that every student is equipped with a Chromebook.
“We received $7.15 million from the Cares Act Funding from the City of Columbus, which we are really thankful for. All of it was spent on 20,000 Chromebooks to be distributed to our students this fall,” said V Vandhana Veerni, Chief Information Officer.
Over the past several weeks the District has been receiving shipments of Chromebooks. As they arrive, they are then unboxed, where a team from Cincinnati Bell Technology Solutions, better known as CBTS, an IT service management company, is setting up the laptops that will be used for virtual learning.
“In total, we will be configuring about 20,000 [Chromebooks],” said Matt Foreman, CBTS Project Manager.
These brand new Dell Chromebooks will help fill the gap that the district needs to ensure that every student has a device, in addition to the 19,000 plus Chromebooks the District already has on hand.
“This 20,000 along with what we have in the schools and what we have already distributed will ensure that every student in Columbus City Schools has a Chromebook at their disposal so they can successfully engage in virtual learning. This includes the CCS digital academy and remote learning,” said Veerni.
School building principals will be in contact with families letting them know when students will be allowed to pick-up a Chromebook for the school year.
