Fairfield board approves districtwide rollout of Apple devices and professional learning

The Fairfield Community Schools board unanimously approved multiple technology motions July 10 to modernize classroom devices and support staff training. Superintendent Dr. Carrie Cannon asked the board to approve a Statement of Work for Apple professional learning specialist support and offsite deployment services (DeployAssist) to enroll devices in Apple School Manager and apply mobile device management settings. The board approved both motions unanimously. The board also approved purchasing iPads for all students in grades kindergarten through 10 and Apple TVs for every classroom, and separately approved purchasing teacher MacBook laptops with AppleCare for all teachers. Dr. Cannon said the professional learning will be built into existing professional development days, with the first district PD day planned for October. She added that teacher MacBooks are not expected to arrive until October and staff suggested allowing teachers to have access to their current computers while acclimating to the new machines through December. Board member Sarah Elledge asked whether the Apple professional development would be required; Dr. Cannon said it would be incorporated into scheduled professional development days. All technology motions passed by unanimous votes. The district did not provide project cost figures or the total number of devices being purchased during the July 10 meeting; staff said further procurement details would be part of contract documents.