PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh Public Schools is buying another 7,000 Chromebooks to help students with remote learning, school officials said Thursday.
The board of directors voted to approve the purchase yesterday. The laptops will go to students in grades two through five.
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"Our youngest students will have the technology they need to not only participate in remote learning, but also gain the life skills necessary to thrive in our global economy," Hamlet said.
Pittsburgh Public School's superintendent Anthony Hamlet said the goal is to give every student a district-issued laptop.
The Heinz Endowment’s remote-learning fund and other donors provided the funding for the laptops.
Education leaders with Pittsburgh Public Schools said they're prepared to make up for what's been lost.
“We are very concerned and aware of the potential learning loss that our students are going to have as a result of COVID-19,” said Superintendent Dr. Anthony Hamlet.
The district said it is planning to get students up to speed this summer, greatly expanding its offerings for learning. Chief of Staff Errika Fearby Jones said the capacity has doubled from 1,200 to 2,400 students.
However, there are 23,000 total students in the district.
All summer courses will be done virtually – from the Summer Dreamers program for K-5 to 8th and 9th graders taking part in the “Learn and Earn” summer youth program.
The loss isn't limited to learning either, as the district spelled out what its financial future looks like. If PPS gets the anticipated funds from the state, the best-case scenario is a $17 million decline in local revenue.
However, if it doesn’t get that state money, the worst-case scenario is a loss of $82 million.
The district has already seen a decrease in earned income as well as real estate taxes, and its had to put out additional money due to the pandemic.
The high-ticket items include instructional packets as well as laptops and salary for employees, totaling over $2.6 million.
As the district moves forward with plans for every student to have a laptop, it's working on distribution with the oldest students getting their devices first.
"We’re preparing for full online implementation of a robust, synchronized environment if need be, but we’re also preparing for brick and mortar and possible scenarios in between,” Hamlet said.
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