Plans for Upper Adams School District’s technological future, if approved by the school board, include upgrading faculty laptops and replacing students’ MacBook Air laptops with iPads.
New asks from administration for the fiscal year 2025 budget include a request to replace all faculty members’ MacBook Pro laptops with MacBook Air laptops. Director of Technology Joshua Cantrell said this switch would be more affordable than staying with MacBrook Pros, he said at Tuesday’s school board committee meeting.
Preliminary budget figures estimate 250 laptops for faculty would cost $357,000. Apple has a buyback program for old devices that Cantrell estimated would save the district about $46,000, resulting in a net cost of about $311,000 for fiscal year 2025.
The faculty refresh is part of a 10-year technology plan.
Looking ahead, Cantrell said he hopes to replace the laptops used by middle and high school students with iPads in the 2025-2026 school year. This is expected to cost $719,250, Cantrell said, while a MacBook Air refresh would likely be upwards of $1 million.
The faculty laptops and student iPads could be covered by the district’s assigned technology fund balance, which contains $1.1 million.
Currently, students in kindergarten through sixth grade use iPads while grades seven through 12 primarily use MacBook Air laptops.
Upper Adams has been an Apple device district since 2007. Biglerville High School was one of the first schools in the state to have one device per student, according to Cantrell. GDC IT Solutions, based in Chambersburg, provides information technology services to the district.
During Tuesday’s meeting, students demonstrated how they have used iPads in the classroom. A fourth grader from Ashly Wilkinson’s class presented a GIF depicting phases of the moon. Students also made wanted posters about endangered species on the iPads and created an educational video about the Piedmont region of Pennsylvania.
A seventh-grade student in Brooke Gates’ class presented a group project highlighting Charles Darwin and birds. Students used the iPads to create graphs, answer questions and record videos of themselves explaining what they learned.
Wilkinson said many students tend to gravitate toward the iPads, and quick learners help their peers learn the programs. Gates said the iPads add another level of engagement to class.
“It’s kind of a fun thing to see, not only seeing them excited about science, but learning and wanting to come to class as well,” Gates said.
Other asks from administration for the fiscal year 2025 budget include $148,000 for wireless access points, $17,000 to replace old physical education cardio equipment, $16,000 for camera servers, $10,000 for world language resources, $6,000 for required support staff training, $5,000 for a new pottery kiln and $2,500 to cover increased dental hygienist expenses.
The board gave Business Administrator Shelley Hobbs the green light to work these expenses into the preliminary fiscal year 2025 budget, which can still be cut before the June budget deadline. Board member Tricia Plank requested Hobbs compare Upper Adams dental hygienist provider costs to what other districts are paying.
Kay Hollabaugh and Neil Weigle were absent.
The board will meet for a voting session March 19 at 7 p.m.
Mary Grace Kauffman, freelance reporter, worked six years as a full-time reporter for newspapers in Pennsylvania and Maryland. She has covered topics including business, crime, education, government and features. Mary Grace has a bachelor's degree in communication/journalism from Shippensburg University. She resides in Adams County.