School District Leases Laptops for Teachers

In an effort to bring teachers up to speed with the latest computer technology, the Baldwin Park School District has provided 900 leased notebook computers and the first of a series of training classes to teachers and some administrators.

The cost of leasing the notebook computers over three years will exceed $1.8 million, to be funded by the district’s operating budget.

The computers will go to teachers and administrators at the 20 district schools, and computer training classes will be offered through Compaq for one month, a company official said.

“We want our teachers to not only have them in the classroom, but if they could take them home and use them at home, they would go on the Internet and they would use e-mail,” said Kathleen Gair, president of the Baldwin Park Board of Education. “The better the teacher is at using it, the better the student is at using it.”

Lease payments will be made in three annual payments of $628,000 for 800 computers, an official said.

The district chose to lease computers instead of purchasing them because the computers can be returned before the warranty expires and also because leasing allows greater technological flexibility.