Tonawanda – Today, Oct. 8, 2021, New York State Assemblyman Bill Conrad announced that he has secured $25,000 in new State aid for the Tonawanda City School District.

The funding will be used to purchase 70 new Google Chromebooks for students’ classroom and at-home use.

 The laptops are provided for students in UPK through grade 12, to help them gain technological proficiency, increase their engagement with the curriculum, and encourage their creativity. While devices like Chromebooks kept children connected to the classroom over many months of remote and hybrid instruction, students of the Tonawanda City School District were using them well before the pandemic began.

The new Chromebooks will replace aging devices, ensuring each student maintains full-time access to his or her own laptop. The district has a current enrollment of about 1,700 students.

Assemblyman Bill Conrad said, “A familiarity with technology is really a must these days, for people of all ages. Educators have a duty to not only cover the standard curriculum, but to prepare our young people for college and the workforce. In getting kids used to working on and communicating through computers, the Tonawanda Schools are endowing them with an invaluable real-world skill set.

“We saw from the start of the pandemic how necessary technology can be, for adults working remotely and for children learning from home. I was pleased to secure this funding to help the Tonawanda Schools continue its mission of bridging the digital divide, and providing a 21st-century education to all its students.”

Tonawanda City School District Superintendent Tim Oldenburg said, “Assemblyman Conrad has been a longtime supporter of public education. We’re happy and proud that we were able to partner on this funding being awarded to the Tonawanda City School District to support our Chromebook and technology programs as we continue to work to eliminate the digital divide.

“We are as a school system working to make sure that an operational device is available to every student, should we be in a situation where a student would have that need temporarily, or our district would need to pivot to a fully remote model. This allows for a more seamless transition and continues to increase the technology skills and other experiences that are valuable to students as they're growing up and entering a more and more fully developed technological society.

“Another concern that all districts face is the repair and the damage that occurs when more students have devices that they're taking home. Just the mere travel or transition from the school classroom to the home, or other accidental and unintended complications that come up, not just with the software, but also with the device itself being operational or potentially damaged. This allows our district to have faster turnarounds and better deploy operational devices to our students when these unexpected and accidental issues come about.

“Anytime there are grant opportunities or funding sources through our local and state representatives, it adds to the resources of the district, and oftentimes can mitigate to an extent the tax burden on our community. This is an opportunity to have some of those collected tax dollars from our local community come back to 14150.”

Tonawanda City School District Director of Technology Jessi Donner said, “We have been using Chromebooks in the classroom for nearly 10 years. We started a pilot with one grade level and over the years added a grade each year and now we are entirely 1:1 in our district. We use Chromebooks beyond just the remote meeting option. They are used for lessons, as textbooks, to take assessments, for enrichment and remediation activities, to provide extended services for our English as a New Language and special education populations, and as a tool to communicate.

“Virtual education came upon us fast and furious, but we were prepared in many ways because our students were already familiar with Chromebooks. The need for more Chromebooks has increased dramatically now that we allow every student to take the Chromebook to and from school.”