SoCal School District Rolls Out 2,000+ Chromebooks for One-to-One Initiative

The days of textbooks and chalkboards are almost behind us. As educators look to up the ante in utilizing cutting-edge learning tools, "One-to-One" initiatives take flight in school districts across the country…like this one in Southern California.

Challenge:

A Southern California school district, including four elementary schools and one middle school, was interested in implementing a one-to-one device initiative for over 3,000 of its students in grades 1-6. With a limited budget and no time to spare, the district knew that partnering with the right solutions provider was essential for a smooth, disruption-free outcome.

Solution:

The district explored various options through a bid process and experienced sticker shock from the pricing they received from several other vendors. To confirm their suspicions, administrators met with SHI's experts to discuss what was possible based on their technology requirements, budget and delivery timeline.

During the RFQ process (including insight from SHI on what a district of their size and scope could expect to pay per device), the customer chose Lenovo Chromebooks based on pricing and a better overall experience versus a previous manufacturer they were considering. SHI worked with Lenovo to secure appropriate pricing, eventually saving the customer $15K compared to other competitive offers and delivering the first phase of 1,200 Lenovo N22 Chromebooks for the district's fifth and sixth graders, on schedule.

After completing the first phase, SHI facilitated the rollout of an additional 150 devices for the fourth grade math and science classes followed by 720 Chromebooks for the third and fourth graders. To avoid class disruption during the rollouts, SHI planned around the school district's schedule and completed the work during the district's winter break and after-school hours.

When it came to the Chromebooks' charging stations - instead of using the traditional charging carts - the district requested a more permanent solution where the charging stations were mounted in each classroom. They opted for two PowerGistics stationary charging towers per classroom in each school. The customer now has over 115 charging towers fully installed and will receive another 40 in 2018. The final phase of the rollout included 40 charging towers and an additional 1,000 Chromebooks, which covered all the remaining devices for first and second grade students.

At the end of the day, the customer was extremely happy with SHI for not only providing integration center services (inventory, etching, kitting and shipping), but by also simplifying the entire process by placing the complete purchase (hardware, software, installation and services) under one purchase order and registering the contract with the Department of Industrial Relations in Calif., thus saving them time and hassle.

Afterwards, SHI worked with the district in consolidating their Cisco Smart Net contracts and refreshed their SQL servers.