Not only do Grand Junction High School students find themselves without phones in class, but some without Chromebooks as well.
According to GJHS Student Body Accounts Secretary Lori Jacobsen, there are 1,819 students who currently have a Chromebook checked out to them, 205 who have not checked one out or use their own device, and roughly 10 kids who are currently on a waitlist for one.
“We’re trying our best to get everyone a Chromebook, but we are limited by what we can get,” said Jacobsen.
Matt Schultz, the Enterprise Operations Manager for Mesa County Valley School District 51, said that this shortage is due to a “larger than expected” increase in enrollment at GJHS, the replacement of old Chromebooks, and students breaking or failing to return them.
At the beginning of the year there was a shortage of chargers for GJHS students, but chargers later arrived, according to Jacobsen. Chargers are currently available in the main office.
GJHS senior Aaron Gomez-Farinacci said he had to wait for a school Chromebook charger at the beginning of the year, but later gave up and instead uses his own type-c charger.
According to Jacobsen, D51 is retiring old Chromebooks with circular chargers due to them being outdated and incompatible with testing, with the District only having enough funds to replace about 10% of all the Chromebooks.
“Last year the student count was 1,779 at the end of the year, and this year it peaked at 2,309 — an increase of over 500 students. We had actually restored the Chromebook count back to what it was last year, but with so many more students enrolling, the need grew beyond the devices we had on hand,” said Schultz.
According to Schultz, in order to replace old Chromebooks and find new ones, District 51 has taken Chromebooks from school closures and used capital funds to purchase new Chromebooks that will arrive later in the year. Schultz said Chromebooks are about $330 per Chromebook, but prices vary depending on vendor quotes at the time of purchase.
“At GJHS specifically, we’ve already worked to restore the 1:1 student-to-Chromebook ratio, and additional devices will arrive later this year to support that goal,” said Schultz.
There are currently 20,000 chromebooks in the district.
