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 Appleis 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 districtis 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 countyis initial four-year contract with Apple - which makes the iBooks - was for $18.5 million. That amount swelled during this yearis 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 yearis experiences under its belt, the county is ready to confront next year head-on, said Mark A. Edwards, the countyis superintendent of schools.

"Weive had some challenges this year, weive made some mistakes, but we learned a lot," Edwards said, concluding that "weire on the right track."

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

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