Buffalo students haven’t returned 8,000 district laptops, iPads issued in pandemic | Local News

“They’re doing the best that they can,” said Phil Rumore, president of the Buffalo Teachers Federation, noting a higher proportion of households in city schools lack access to their own laptop or tablet computers.

Burden and Larry Scott, an at-large member of the Buffalo School Board, said this effort built on the district’s 1:1 technology program, which began in 2017 and provided all students in grades three to 12 with their own laptop or iPad, stored in their homeroom.

“Buffalo, in my opinion, was ahead of the game,” Scott said.

When the pandemic shut down schools in March 2020, the district pivoted to remote learning and sent the previously issued devices home with students. The district had enough left over to give second graders their own devices over the summer of 2020.

The school system ordered nearly 10,000 iPads for its youngest learners at the end of July 2020, after the state awarded the district $9 million for technology improvements. With such devices in high demand at the time, it wasn’t until October 2020 that the shipments came in and the district was able to pass them out to pre-K, kindergarten and first grade students.

In total, about 31,000 devices went out to students in the district – iPads for the youngest students and laptops in the older grades.

As the school year ended, students and their families received notices asking that they return the devices to the district, which operates a Center for Innovation, Technology and Training at the former School 28 at 1515 South Park Ave.