Henrico County School Board Votes Unanimously To Expand iBook Purchase

by , 12:45 PM EDT, May 28th, 2002

The Henrico County School District made many a Mac headline last year when it rolled out a plan to buy some 23,000 iBooks last year. Apple announced the deal when it introduced the current iBook design, which began Apple's efforts to retake the education market. The iBooks were to be given to every middle school and high school student and teacher, though there were later snags involving porn found on student laptops.

According to an article published by the Richmond Times-Dispatch, the Henrico County School Board has voted unanimously to expand the program to the district's 6th graders.

The county initially planned to expand the computer initiative, already in place at county high schools, only to seventh- and eighth-graders during the 2002-2003 school year.

The county's initial four-year contract with Apple - which makes the iBooks - was for $18.5 million. That amount swelled during this year's rollout to about $22 million as the school system encountered unexpected network troubles. The initial $18.5 million included computers for seventh and eighth grades.

With the past school year's experiences under its belt, the county is ready to confront next year head-on, said Mark A. Edwards, the county's superintendent of schools.

"We've had some challenges this year, we've made some mistakes, but we learned a lot," Edwards said, concluding that "we're on the right track."

You can find more information on this, including other background information, in the full article at the Richmond Times--Dispatch's Web site.

Join in on the discussion about Henrico County's use of iBooks in our brand new An Apple A Day - Macs In Education forum.

The Mac Observer Spin:

This is a testament to the success of using Apple's products in education. A unanimous vote from a school board on an issue like this indicates a bunch of hard core Macheads, or a program that has worked. The snags involving porn and networking issues are small potatoes when compared to the headaches faced by most admins and users alike in most Windows networks. Congratulations to the Henrico County School District and to Apple for making this iBook purchase work.

Richmond Times-Dispatch Article