District hands out hundreds of laptops to families
Times Observer photo by Brian Ferry Warren County Career Center Protective Services student Jayce Turner delivers two laptop computers to a Warren County family during a drive-up event Wednesday at the Warren County School District central office.
Times Observer photo by Brian Ferry A sign directs Warren County School District families through the central office parking lot during a drive-up event Wednesday. Families that indicated on a 2020 survey that they did not have enough devices at home to provide for all students if remote learning were required were able to pick up laptop computers.
Times Observer photo by Brian Ferry Warren County Career Center Protective Services student Jayce Turner delivers two laptop computers to a Warren County family during a drive-up event Wednesday at the Warren County School District central office.
Times Observer photo by Brian Ferry A sign directs Warren County School District families through the central office parking lot during a drive-up event Wednesday. Families that indicated on a 2020 survey that they did not have enough devices at home to provide for all students if remote learning were required were able to pick up laptop computers.
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The Warren County School District is working to remove barriers to remote learning -- with help from the federal government.
On Wednesday, staff and students helped deliver hundreds of laptops to school district families at the district's central office in Russell.
No charge. No strings attached.
There were about 2,400 laptops to be given out to families that had responded to a 2020 survey asking about barriers to remote learning.
"The federal government wanted to provide access for kids that didn't have it," Director of Administrative Support Services Gary Weber said.
The district has used federal grant dollars to purchase the computers, mobile wi-fi hotspots, and other hardware that will eliminate barriers for students.
"It was over $3 million that we requested and we're getting most of that," Weber said.
Wednesday's event was the first of two. "We have another pick-up scheduled for Jan. 5," Weber said.
Family members drove in, followed the signs, checked in, and provided the names of students who were identified in the survey as having insufficient access to a computer if schools were closed. District personnel checked the names against their list.
If the names matched, serial number information was taken from the computer, affixed to the form, and the computer or computers were taken out to the family.
If names didn't match, or if someone saw the sign and drove in to see if they could get a computer, no computer was delivered. "They have to be on the list," Weber said.
He said the survey was taken about a year ago, so there are gaps in the coverage. The district may issue a follow-up survey after the first of the year.
Students from the Warren County Career Center's Protective Services Program signed-in participants, collected the necessary hardware, and delivered that equipment to the families.
"The kids are doing a great job," Weber said.