Due to their significantly lower cost, Chromebooks will continue to be issued to Milton students, according to high school administration.
“My guess is we are going to continue with Chromebooks,” said Co-principal Michael Bergey. He added that the costs of damages to Chromebooks compared to laptops used in the past is significantly less, almost half the price of other device options.
Network Administrator Duane Gemberling said that windows laptops with four years of insurance cost $850 while Chromebooks cost $450.
According to Mr. Bergey, when seniors graduate, their laptops are at the end of their life cycle. Usually it’s a four-year cycle, he added.
Students are not able to keep their devices, however. “The district is responsible for proper disposal/recycling of all electronics devices,” said Mr. Gemberling. “Also, we would have to remove Windows from the devices because the license is non-transferrable.”
Mr. Bergey said that the district is looking into getting laptop sleeves for devices next year. Students stuff everything in their laptop bags, causing damage to both the laptops and the bags, he added.
According to Mr. Bergey, high school students would continue to use the laptop bags in addition to the sleeves. He added Mr. Gemberling is running a test next year with fourth and fifth graders to evaluate laptop sleeves.
Mr. Gemberling said that both the laptop bags and the Chromebook cases are approximately $35 each.
Students are not able to bring their own laptop bags to use, said Mr. Bergey.
According to Mr. Bergey, if students need a new laptop bag, they can go to the main office and request a new bag when tech assistants are available (Block 1 and 2). He added that if the damages to the bag looks intentional, the student will have to pay for it; however, this isn’t often an issue.
Approximately 10 percent of laptop bags each year get replaced because of damages, said Mr. Gemberling.
“Most bag damage is due to misuse and overstuffing the bag. There have also been many instances of laptops/Chromebooks being damaged because of the bag being over- stuffed,” he added.
Dean Of Students William Campbell said that between the high school and middle school, there were 125 loaner laptops at the start of the 2023-24 school year. Mr. Bergey said that the high school will not need any more loaner laptop than they have now.
According to Mr. Campbell in the past they have ran out of loaner laptops. In this event, they had to use brand-new laptops, he said.
According to Mr. Bergey, he is unaware of what the tech support hours will be next school year. He added that there are two students who help facilitate tech now; however, the high school will need four students next year because of switching to a period schedule.
