The Cobb County School District hopes a new shipment of Chromebooks and a donation from a local church will help fulfill the demand from families in need of technology for remote learning.
The district received the first 750 of an order to supply the system with 2,600 Chromebooks from Stratix, a Gwinnett-based company. Felicia Wagner, executive director of the Cobb Schools Foundation, said the company reached out to the organization several months ago with the hopes of securing vendors for their products.
Once the district made its announcement that it would begin the 2020-21 school year remotely, Wagner said the Foundation partnered with Stratix because “they were one of the very few companies” that had enough devices on hand for a quick turnaround.
Credit: Cobb County School District
Credit: Cobb County School District
The Foundation also received a $75,000 gift from North Metro Church in Kennesaw to help the district purchase laptops for students. The devices will go to the system’s Title I schools, where at least half of their students qualify for free or reduced-price meals.
Cobb Superintendent Chris Ragsdale told the AJC in an interview that the district has received more than 38,000 requests for laptops. The district has distributed more than 30,000 of those devices to students.
Wagner said the COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare the needs of many families in Cobb County.
“We are doing everything we can to meet as many needs as we can for our students,” she said.
To help the Cobb Schools Foundation supply laptops to students, visit its website.
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