GJHS is set to recharge with 1,800 new Chromebooks.
The new Chromebooks are set to be distributed next week on Wednesday Jan. 22 to replace the Chromebooks already borrowed out to the GJHS student body.
Students must bring their old Chromebook and charger in order to swap it for the newly arriving ones, according to GJHS student body accounts secretary Lori Jacobsen.
Jade Bagga, a freshman at GJHS, said that in order for her Chromebook to charge properly, she has to position her Chromebook charger in a specific way or the battery will not charge. According to Bagga, she uses her Chromebook for half of her classes, and will sometimes show up to class to find out her Chromebook did not charge when it had been plugged in.
“Whoever had it last definitely used and abused it,” Bagga said.
According to Josh Warinner, a Vice Principal at GJHS, there is no longer a list of students waiting to get a Chromebook, but the school is replacing the Dell 3100 Chromebooks with newer Dell 3120 Chromebooks. The old Dell 3100 Chromebooks are from the 2021-22 school year.
Matt Schultz, the Enterprise Operations Manager for Mesa County Valley School District 51, said, “The Chromebooks were newly purchased. Our Chief Financial Officer [Melanie Trujullio] was able to identify and allocate funding for this purchase, and the devices were ordered through Dell.”
“‘Shortage’ may not be the best term, but the district is facing a long-term replacement challenge. During the COVID pandemic, the district was able to purchase approximately 16,000 Chromebooks at once using special funding. Those funds are no longer available, and we are now working to replace a very large number of aging devices through regular budget cycles,” Schultz said.
According to Schultz, the new 1,800 Chromebooks allocated to GJHS were a part of 3,500 purchased by D51. The 3,500 Chromebooks were distributed across GJHS, Grand River Academy, and Palisade High School. The total cost of the 3,500 Chromebooks is $1.19 million with each device costing $340.
The Chromebooks that are turned in will be assessed individually. Chromebooks that are turned in and are considered to be in good condition will be restored, refurbished, and cleaned so they can then be used to replace failing devices at other schools.
“Devices that are no longer viable will be dismantled so usable components can be repurposed for repairs, and any remaining unusable parts will be properly recycled,” said Schultz.
At the beginning of the 2025-2026 school year, GJHS experienced a Chromebook shortage where roughly 205 students did not have a device checked out to them or were using their own device, with roughly 10 students on a waitlist for a Chromebook. The waitlist was due to “larger than expected,” enrollment according to Schultz.
“We want everyone to get the new Chromebooks, and we are encouraging people get the new ones,” Warinner said.
Warinner said that, although the school no longer has a shortage of Chromebooks, the school does not have any extra in the case that the old ones break or need replacement.
