White Co. Schools Near 1-To-1 Student Device Ratio

The White County School System is one step closer to having a one-to-one student to laptop ratio.

That after the White County Board Of Education approved a $120,000 dollar state grant for laptops. Director of Schools Kurt Dronebarger said every school is now capable of allowing a student to bring home a laptop.

“This money is really huge at this time, because we really had to delve into the virtual world like we never have before here in White County,” Dronebarger said. “We are inching closer ever closer to that infamous one on one student to device ratio, and we are almost there.”

Dronebarger said the only issue will be finding the laptops to purchase with demand so high. Teachers will also be receiving upgrades with another grant to upgrade desktops.

“We actually got about $60,000 more from a grant than we expected,” Dronebarger said. “It is a good opportunity to update our teacher’s computers. Now that they have gone through all this technology training, and they know how to use it. We are going to bolster those and get a head of the game.”

Dronebarger said he does not have a time frame for when the new devices will arrive.

In other business, the board of education also approved the 2020-2021 insurance plan for all teachers. Premiums increased by about two percent, which is far under expected, according to school officials.

Dronebarger gave a district COVID report during the meeting. As of Thursday and according to the state health department, the school system has 16 new confirmed cases this week.