BY KARISSA MILLER
The Iredell-Statesville Schools Board of Education is considering two options as the district prepares for its upcoming device refresh.
During Monday’s board meeting, I-SS Executive Director of Digital Teaching and Learning Jackie Parker outlined the pros and cons of continuing the a one-to-one high school laptop program or switching to a shared model with devices remaining at school. Her presentation included a review of the district’s device history and life span of elementary, middle and high school devices with a majority of devices in their fourth or fifth year of use.
The district is planning to roll out new devices in the spring of 2026, 2027 and 2028.
♦ Spring 2026: Middle and high school devices for 2026-2027 school year
♦ Spring 2027: Elementary school devices and teacher I-pads for 2027-2028 school year
♦ Spring 2028: Teacher devices for 2028-2029 school year
The estimated cost for the spring 2026 device refresh is $4.7 million, which is based on enrollment figures from last year, Parker said.
She also compared the district’s device refresh practices in other counties. Rowan-Salisbury refreshes their iPads every three years, while Davie County Schools keeps devices for six years, Parker said.
Staff recommends replacing the current middle and high school devices with Chromebooks, she said.
Her team received a lot of positive feedback from a pilot program in which Chromebooks were deployed last spring. Students described Chromebooks as “reliable” and said “everything works,” according to Parker.
Chromebooks are the most common devices across many districts in the state. The management of these devices by the district’s technology department would be much easier, she said.
Parker also shared targeted survey data of students:
♦ In the middle school survey, more than 84 percent of students opted for Chromebooks over iPads with no keyboards.
♦ In the high school survey, around 43 percent of students favored Windows laptop and 36 percent preferred Chromebooks.
District officials must decide if they will continue providing each high school student with a device or switch to a shared model.
The benefits of providing each student with a computer include equitable access and ease of online testing. The major benefit of shared devices is the significant cost savings.
West Iredell High Assistant principal Dan Roseman shared his concerns about moving to shared devices over a one-to-one refresh.
Having shared devices is an inefficient use of teachers’ time and hurts students who are in a rigorous course and don’t have access to technology in their homes, Roseman said.
Roseman said that International Baccalaureate (IB) students, Advanced Placement (AP) and Mitchell Community College students are required to do a significant amount of work outside of school using curriculums that must be accesses online.
“We would be effectively impeding their ability to take this rigorous course of study, which means we would be making it more difficult for students coming from poverty to take this rigorous program and thereby getting them out of poverty,” Roseman said.
Statesville High School Principal Chad Parker said last year, SHS went to a shared model.
During the roll-out, Parker said, there was pushback. Then the school started to deploy devices based on student needs.
Statesville High then moved to a “hybrid model” where they had carts and one-to-one devices for some students, but it created a “school-based issue rather than a device issue,” he explained.
Parker said his preference is providing each student with a laptop.
Oakwood Middle School Principal Chris Grace said that when he interviews teachers they ask about the technology.
“When I tell them we are a one-to-one district, their eyes get big and they are excited – this is a great place to be. Without that piece in place, they may go to these other places,” Grace said.