LA school officials acknowlege they ignored computer inventories in latest iPad purchase
Maya Sugarman/KPCC
Officials with the Los Angeles Unified School district acknowledged at a public meeting Thursday afternoon that they did not consider existing computer inventories when buying the latest round of iPads for schools.
KPCC reported last week that many schools were scheduled to receive the new tablets to take digital state tests - even if they already had fleets of laptops, iPads or other devices.
“So the number of carts and iPads they are getting are based on the total number students regardless of existing computer resources?” asked Quynh Nguyen, a member of a school board committee probing the iPad program.
“That is correct,” replied Oscar Lafarga, an administrator for the district. He said the district only took into account how many students would be tested.
As a result, schools like Granada Hills Charter High School - which already has 2,000 computers for its 4,000 students - is slated to receive hundreds of extra iPads.
Administrators said at prior meetings they did not know exactly how many computers