Limestone Co. students receive new laptops

LIMESTONE COUNTY, AL (WAFF) - Limestone County students now have brand new Apple computers, but it did come at a price.

The district cut 10 percent out of its budget to put toward the technology upgrades that allowed 1,300 students to receive new computers.

The superintendent said repurposing the 10 percent that had to be cut to land these laptops is essential to Limestone County students and learning in the classroom.

Creekside Elementary students received their laptops Friday morning and teachers started using them for learning minutes later.

The district says the goal is to outfit every single student with a laptop or iPad but they've decided to roll them out with elementary students first.

District leaders have already upgraded bandwidth to make sure they don't run into the same problems others have when all the devices are logged onto the network.

The superintendent said this isn't a want, this is a need.

"Everything that we do today and as we move forward is going to deal with technology," said Superintendent of Limestone County Schools Dr. Tom Sisk. "I'm reminded of a story of a farmer who had trouble with his equipment. He was trying to make it work, he couldn't get it to work. When he contacted a local company they didn't send out a mechanic, they sent out a guy on a computer who plugged into a chip, punched a few buttons, and that machine leveled itself."

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