By Eric Stock
BLOOMINGTON – District 87 is moving closer to its goal of equipping every student in grades 3 through 12 with a laptop.
Superintendent Barry Reilly told WJBC’s Scott Laughlin the student computers the district has now have been donated by State Farm and refurbished while the district plans to buy about 1,000 more laptops by the fall to supply each high school student with a computer.
“(State Farm) has been very helpful, not only to our district, but other districts around this area as well,” Reilly said. “When we refurbish those machines, we get a lot of good life out of those. So it’s not just us going out and buying new machines. It’s a mix of new machines and those donated laptops.”
PODCAST: Listen to Scott’s interview with Reilly on WJBC.
Reilly noted the $500,000 cost is included in the district’s technology budget and will be offset by using more online curriculum rather than textbooks.
He said today’s students learn through technology.
“That phone is truly an extension of who they are as opposed to some device they use,” Reilly said, noting his 4-year-old grandson can easily scroll through a mobile phone or tablet.
The district is also covering the cost of home internet access for children from low-income families.
Eric Stock can be reached at [email protected].
