Facing the expiration of ESSER grants which have funded Chromebook purchases for every student over the past few years and mounting costs to repair damaged student devices, Anne Arundel County Public Schools will alter its student Chromebook distribution process beginning in the 2024-2025 school year.
To help ensure a greater and more consistent availability of devices for students, Chromebooks will be housed at schools next year and not automatically provided to every student for take-home use. Currently, students in grades 3 through 12 are offered a Chromebook they can take back and forth from home to school while students in Grade 2 and below are offered Chromebooks for home use.
Students who need to have such a device to take home will be able to secure one free of charge through a loaner program administered at each school. Chromebooks will be loaned to students on either a semester or yearlong basis, and families will have the option to purchase insurance for the devices.
“The fact of the matter is that the economic conditions and the number of damaged Chromebooks throughout our system make it impossible for us to sustain this program as it was designed during the COVID-19 pandemic,” Superintendent of Schools Dr. Mark Bedell said. “We have said for a couple of years now that funding crunches from the ending of ESSER would necessitate changes in the way we do things, and this is one of those changes. The important things for our families to understand are that students will not lose access to devices and they will not be charged to get devices to take home if that is necessary.”
As part of the program, Chromebooks will be collected from all students at the end of this school year. They will be inventoried and, where necessary, reconditioned. Devices will be returned to schools in class sets in time for the opening of the 2024-2025 school year.
The Anne Arundel County Families who meet the requirements of the free Chromebook program, led by the Anne Arundel County Public Library, are welcome to apply.
Through a grant provided by Anne Arundel County and the State of Maryland, the Anne Arundel County Public Library is participating in a free Chromebook giveaway for eligible Anne Arundel County residents. Recipients must be 18 years of age or older and there is a limit of one Chromebook per household. More information on that program can be found by clicking this link.