On a dark, cloudy night, a student closes their laptop after stapling together their eight-page essay; unfortunately, they closed their computer lid on a lone staple, fully shattering the screen.

If a student’s device is damaged, they swap it out with another device in inventory, said Brian Daley, Chief Information Officer for the Blue Valley school district.

“Our mission is to make sure that you, as a student, aren’t left without a device in the classroom,” Daley said.

Graduates return undamaged MacBooks at the end of their high school career.

“Whether you’re on your first one, second or third, you turn those in at graduation,” Daley said. “Same with [the] middle school — we have a recycler that comes in [and] collects all those from us.”

Distributing Chromebooks in sixth grade and MacBooks in ninth grade saves the school money in the long run.

“Unlike other school districts that might spend in one chunk and wait for those devices to deteriorate, we sustain our budget over a longer period of time because of those injection points,” Daley said.

Graduated students give a total of about 6,000 devices to the recycler, and the school board is given roughly half of the devices’ original value back.

“Money that’s collected quarterly comes in the form of a check from the recycler,” Daley said. “That goes back into our break-fixed budget to continue to fix devices from 6th to 12th grade. That allows us to not have to charge a student or family a fee, annually.”

Daley said they try to carry at least 20% over what they purchase for hot swaps, which is a quick exchange of a broken laptop for a different one, so students can continue lessons with a device.

To get the best deal they can and because they purchase in large quantities, the board looks for substantial price breaks; fortunately, Blue Valley has high-achieving students, aiding in purchasing.

“Vendors want their products in our district,” Daley said. “They want us to be a lighthouse district, so kudos to the students that attend Blue Valley.”

Inflation puts the funding in a tight spot, but taxpayer money goes toward technological purchases for the next three to four years. This includes building maintenance, construction, asset preservation and digital resources.

“Digital resources are constantly increasing as textbooks and other things start to decrease,” Daley said.

Involving teachers and iPads, the school board aims for an overall holistic approach with sustainability at the forefront of their minds.

“What type of app would benefit [teachers] for annotating and working within our ecosystems so they can be mobile in the classroom?” Daley said. “We are making sure we’ve reached out to teachers and said, ‘What exactly do you need to do your job in the classroom?’”

The type of screen provided is mostly dependent on the subject the educator teaches.

“A lot of teachers are forgoing the SMART Board,” Daley said. “High schools are going with the large pull-down screens because we really put the power of projection, mirroring and displaying in the MacBooks.”

These interactive displays, which are roughly $2,000 and used more in elementary schools, were installed for their touch component. Departure from them is kinder to the district’s funding.

“We are trying to reduce the usage of Smarts,” Daley said. “By getting a panel or pull-down screens, you’re cutting your price down. We have teachers that want more of a smart panel or even a non-interactive panel.”

Furthermore, these upcoming technological advancements are overwriting the previous generation’s technology, which was centralized around a screen a child could touch.

“We have to prepare ourselves for that new generation of elementary kids coming in that don’t necessarily need the touch as much as they’re already proficient keyboard-wise, typing online,” he said. “This new generation is already experiencing the beginnings of this AI world.”

From a standpoint of safety and security, the school board is not looking to restrict the use of AI but to create guidelines, allowing engagement with artificial intelligence.

Looking into the future, the district wants what is best for staff and students.

“Our job as a department is to make sure we find that sweet spot where we’re not rushing or forcing teachers but still staying with industry standards,” Daley said. “We’ve continued to stay relevant, and [our] cost and budget reflect that.”