Let’s just say Peoria Unified students will be left to their own devices this school year.
In a very good way.
This year, each Peoria Unified student, kindergarten through 12th-grade, will be provided a laptop thanks to a $10 million grant from the Federal Communications Commission.
This initiative was made possible by the FCC Emergency Connectivity Fund to help schools provide tools and services during the COVID-19 emergency period. Congress authorized the funds as part of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.
Peoria Unified applied for these funds and the district was able to purchase nearly 30,000 laptops for student use.
During the pandemic, Peoria Unified distributed laptops and Wi-Fi hot spots to families in need, but it was not a one-to-one distribution like this situation, said PUSD spokeswoman Erin Dunsey.
Also during the pandemic, many of those laptops were near the end of their lifespan — Peoria Unified provided laptops to approximately 60% of students and about 16,000 of those laptops were six years old, she added.
“It was first-come, first-served. In many cases, laptops were older and this presented some challenges,” Dunsey said.
In this case, she said, the grant funding allowed Peoria Unified to purchase new laptops for 77% of district students while using laptops they currently had in stock to provide for use to younger grade levels during the school day.
Peoria Unified’s Information Management and Technology Department received the first shipment of laptops in February and worked throughout the summer to prepare the laptops for students for the start of this school year.
“Our IMT Department has been hard at work since February imaging and preparing laptops so that students can use them this fall at the start of the school year,” said Director of IMT Network Operations Mike Treguboff. “We are excited for all students in kindergarten through 12th grade to use these laptops and have access to resources they may not have otherwise.”
To put into perspective how much work the district’s IMT Department put into this laptop implementation, each laptop takes approximately two hours to image and make ready for student use. This equals to about 60,000 total hours of the IMT Department’s time to ensure all Peoria Unified students receive equitable access to technology.
Students in younger grade levels may keep their assigned laptops at the school site to be checked out during the school day whereas older students will be able to bring their laptops home each evening to continue their schoolwork. Schools will be communicating that process to the appropriate grade levels this fall.
The implementation of district-wide laptops is part of the district’s four-part Strategic Reset Plan, falling under the Student Success and Stewardship of Resources perspective that ensures all students receive the resources they need to be successful, according to a news release.
Philip Haldiman can be reached at phaldiman@iniusa.org, or on Twitter @philiphaldiman.
Meet Philip Haldiman is an award-winning journalist who most recently took first place for investigative reporting in 2023 from Arizona Newspapers Association. He joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in 2015, covering Sun City West his first year. Since 2016, he has covered the city of Peoria. Prior to coming to INI, he was a reporter with The Arizona Republic for seven years, covering numerous cities throughout the Valley. Before that, he was a freelance writer.
Community: Haldiman spearheads the Peoria Independent Hometown Heroes Awards program, honoring local individuals and businesses that give back to the community. He has hosted local candidate forums over the years and is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists. Haldiman also served as a member of the Journalism Program Community Advisory Board at Glendale Community College. Outside journalism, Haldiman served as a member of the city of Peoria Complete Count Committee for the Census, 2019-2020. Lastly, he has served as a member of his HOA governing board since 2021.
Education: Arizona State University with a BA in Journalism and Mass Communications and a BA in Theater.
Random Fact: Haldiman is a fourth-generation Arizonan as well as wrote and produced an autobiographical comic book about his time spent in Hollywood and his life as a cult film star.
Hobbies: He enjoys hiking Arizona’s mountainous landscapes and is currently working on a play for the stage.
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