Friendswood ISD board members approve purchase of $129,000 worth of student devices. dollars

Cline Elementary School students will receive new personal student devices for the 2024-25 school year after the Friendswood ISD Board of Trustees approved the purchase of $129,250 in new laptops during a May 28 workshop.

What’s going on?

FISD approved a $129,250 bid from technology services provider GovConnection Inc. According to the supplier’s quote, it includes 410 Chromebooks.

The original device replacement plan was scheduled to be implemented for the 2023-24 school year, but it was postponed to “provide budgetary support to the district,” according to district agenda documents.

In total, the district spent nearly $253,000 on new devices, as 400 other student devices were already purchased for Cline Elementary earlier this year, according to district documents.

According to district documents, the purchase will be made from district funds for teaching materials.

What’s next?

The new devices for sixth- and seventh-grade students at Friendswood Middle School were scheduled to arrive in the 2024-25 school year, but for unspecified reasons they will be postponed until the 2025-2026 school year.