Several significant E-SPLOST expenditures were approved by the Henry County Board of Education at its January 10 regular business meeting.

A $39.8 million allocation was approved for Windows laptops and Chromebook devices for the district’s students and educators. According to a staff report, the request was made by administrators to facilitate the replacement of student and teacher devices that will be out of service warranty at the end of the fiscal year and also to secure technical support and services for the process.

Each device has a five-year warranty, and the purchase agreement includes initial device setup, recycling services and accidental damage repair, along with spares to maximize instructional and operational efficiency, according to officials.
Also approved as an E-SPLOST purchase was robotics equipment for every elementary school in the district, to be used by students in grades 3-5. The cost is not to exceed $123,000.

Another project being funded by E-SPLOST involves security access control at buildings throughout the district. A bid of $5.6 million was accepted for work that includes the installation of low-voltage access control systems at 55 existing school, administrative office and maintenance buildings, along with associated power and data network provisions for the system.

In other business, the school board approved a request to acquire a K-5 core reading and writing resource and a 6-12 supplemental writing program, as well as a supplemental tool for assessing and supporting student reading in grades K-2 from Houghton Mifflin-Harcourt (HMH). The $3.7 million cost is being covered by the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER 3) fund, which was created to address the impact of COVID-19 on elementary and secondary schools.