Laptops for all! HS students to get take home computers

BAY MINETTE, Ala. (WALA) - Baldwin County Public High School students are taking a big leap into the 21 ^st century. Laptops are being issued to every student in what’s being called the digital renaissance.

THE “DIGITAL RENAISSANCE”

The Baldwin County School System calls it their Digital Renaissance, which revolves around laptops for every student.

Instructional Specialist Janice Simon instituted the pilot program at Baldwin County High last year. She said the laptops made a major difference right away.

 “We had fewer discipline referrals. We had fewer failure rates. We cut our dropout rate in half here,” Simon said.

9,000 STUDENTS RECEIVING LAPTOPS

Now the program is going system-wide to more than 9,000 high school students. The laptops will go with the students wherever they go, from school to home.

Superintendent Dr. Alan Lee said, “This is unlimited. They’ll be able to find information on any topic that they need to research and right on and it will be available to them 24-7.”

Of course there are concerns. Superintendent Lee said harmful, explicit, and social sites will be blocked by filters no matter where students take their laptops.

The Interview: School Board President Angie Swiger

 “Actually, if a student takes their computer to Chicago or Los Angeles and logs on it; (it) go right back through our system. So they can’t log onto those bad sites,” Dr. Lee said.

There’s also a fee. A payment of $64 is required for insurance. For those that can’t afford it, some help may be available.

 “There have been some people who have been stepping up and offering services to students who don’t have the resources,” Dr. Lee told us.

PARENTS RECEIVE ORIENTATION

For most parents receiving orientation on the do’s and don’ts the positives outweigh their worries.

Parent Carrie Summers told us, “In the job force now when they graduate, it’s computerized. It’ll help them as they prepare to leave high school and move on.”

COST OF THE PROGRAM

Each laptop is leased by the school system at a cost of $200 a year. The total cost of the program approaches $2 million which is paid out of the systems general fund.