Orange County Public Schools is giving the gift of laptops to all of the students at nine schools around the county. This is the second phase of the gifting, which began in 2013, when the students in seven schools received laptops and iPads.
This year’s distribution cost $27.8 million and brings the number of laptops handed out to 32,000. The district’s goal is to eventually give one laptop (or iPad) to every student.
Students will be able to take the devices home after school, where the responsibility for their surfing habits will fall to their parents and guardians. At school, though, teachers will be able to control their laptops during class and help the students stay focused on their school work.
School began on Monday, Aug. 24, for both Orange and Lake Counties.
Orange County is hiring an additional 1,000 teachers for the school year, due to an increase in enrollment by about 5,300 students. As of last week, the district was still grappling with 133 faculty vacancies, and will need to rely on substitutes and other district employees to fill in any gaps.
