Baldwin County’s ambitious effort to put an Apple laptop or iPad in the hands of nearly every public school student has delivered on its promise of expanded classroom technology, but records show the four-year-old program has also come with a steady stream of breakage, financing costs and mixed reviews from the students using the devices daily.
Since the rollout began, students have cracked, dropped, soaked and otherwise damaged hundreds of the district’s laptops. School board member David Cox said the machines are built to withstand typical classroom wear, but conceded that any electronic device is inherently more fragile than a textbook. Last year alone, the district spent more than $91,000 replacing broken or lost computers, while parents paid a combined $520,000 in $100 deductible fees over two years to cover roughly 5,200 irreparably damaged or lost machines.
The program, dubbed the “Digital Renaissance” by former superintendent Alan Lee, was modeled after a similar 1-to-1 computing initiative in Mooresville, North Carolina. Lee argued in 2011 that traditional classroom limits on what a teacher or textbook could offer were holding back student achievement, and pushed to eliminate those barriers with internet-connected devices. The district launched a pilot at Baldwin County High School in Bay Minette in 2012 before expanding it to every high school and junior high in the system.
The financial commitment has been substantial. The district agreed to pay Apple $15.1 million through 2015 as part of the rollout, which earned Baldwin County an “Apple Distinguished School” designation. The program went districtwide the following year, with students in grades 3-6 receiving MacBook Air laptops and younger students in grades K-2 receiving iPads, though only students in fourth grade and above are permitted to take devices home. Between laptop bags and software, early units cost the district about $1,063 apiece, with later models running closer to $799.
To fund an additional wave of roughly 6,900 iPads and 7,900 laptops, bringing the district’s total device count to more than 33,000, officials took out a $9.6 million loan from a local bank, backed by revenue from a temporary penny sales tax voters approved in 2012. District financial officials say loan payments are actually being made through a separate, long-term sales tax rather than the temporary one, and the district has already paid several million dollars back on the note.
To control costs, the district shifted away from a private insurer and moved to self-insuring the laptops last year, charging families a $64 annual fee per student. Officials say the approach gives them flexibility to make quick, low-cost repairs, though it also means the district has relatively limited reserve funds on hand in the event of a widespread equipment failure. Board members have called that scenario unlikely given the scale and reliability of the devices.
Reactions from students and parents around the county have been mixed. Some students say the laptops run slowly or go unused in certain classes, while others describe tripping hazards from charging cords and general wear from daily use. Other families and students point to real benefits, including easier communication with teachers, access to international coursework partnerships, and better preparation for the technology-driven demands of college. Administrators at several schools say the biggest factor in successful adoption has been adequate training time for both teachers and students before laptops are handed out.