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Memphis-Shelby County Schools leaders on Tuesday proposed a mid-year purchase of 25,000 laptops for high schoolers after parents complained that a sudden change in district technology policy this year left teachers and families scrambling.
Before the first day of classes in August, MSCS quietly ended a COVID-era policy that assigned each student an individual laptop or tablet to use for online class work and testing. Amid nationwide efforts to dial back classroom technology and a new state law requiring clear technology policies for elementary school, district leaders said at the time that the decision was partially about being “more intentional” with digital resources.
Chalkbeat Tennessee reported in early September that the last-minute laptop policy change hindered testing and lesson plans at White Station High School. The change took some teachers and parents by surprise and also raised concerns about students who could not bring their own devices from home.
Many of the district’s laptops purchased during the pandemic are also aging out or broken, Chief of Business Operations Tito Langston said at Tuesday’s board work session meeting. There are currently nearly 260,0000 devices in MSCS’ inventory, Langston said, but 175,000 of those are aged out or expected to age out within two years.
MSCS board members will officially vote on the $22 million purchase in a business meeting next week. Langston said high schools should expect to receive the new devices by February 2027, before standardized testing ramps up.
Langston said district leaders met with the faculty at White Station when trying to address laptop issues. The new technology policy will not be a 1:1 assignment model like before, he said. Instead, it will be a “take-home” policy where high schoolers enrolled in college courses or asynchronous classes can temporarily check out a device from the school laptop carts.
The new laptops would easily cover access for the district’s 24,000 high school students, Langston said. The purchase will also include 1,500 new laptops for high school teachers.
During Tuesday’s meeting, board member Michelle McKissack praised MSCS leadership for responding to parent feedback.
“I’m glad to see that you’re working on solutions to a very serious problem that took place at the beginning of the school year,” she said. “There was a lot of school leadership who were very frustrated when it came time to testing.”
McKissack also asked about updates to the district’s IT department, which parents said was slow to respond to laptop issues at the beginning of the year. Superintendent Roderick Richmond said district leaders are working on standardizing IT procedures, and added that support staff from Apple will help with the laptop rollout as well.
Langston added that the district will appoint or hire a staff member at each MSCS high school to manage the laptop inventory and check for missing or broken devices. The $22 million purchase includes a warranty with Apple that covers two accidental breaks per year on each device, he added.
Bri Hatch covers Memphis-Shelby County Schools for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Reach Bri at bhatch@chalkbeat.org.
