What to Know
- Students in Paterson who will engage in online learning during the upcoming school year will have to wait for their new Chromebooks, after district officials announced that the devices they ordered for students will be delivered with a two-month delay due to a human rights issue with the manufacturer.
- District officials informed the Board of Education Technology Committee Monday that Chromebooks ordered will not be delivered until late September or early October. The delivery was originally promised by late July or early August.
- Subsequently, an electronics company used by Lenovo, the Hefei Bitland Information Technology Company, is one of 11 companies in China that the U.S. Commerce Department has imposed trade sanctions against due to suspected human rights violations, the district said, adding that Lenovo has stopped all contact and engagement with Hefei Bitland and is currently working to bring three factories online to resume Chromebook production.
Students in Paterson who will engage in online learning during the upcoming school year will have to wait for their new Chromebooks, after district officials announced that the devices they ordered for students will be delivered with a two-month delay due to a suspected human rights issue with the manufacturer.
District officials informed the Board of Education Technology Committee Monday that Chromebooks ordered will not be delivered until late September or early October. The delivery was originally schedule for late July or early August.
“This is the latest in a series of unpredictable disruptions to students and their education this year,” Superintendent of Schools Eileen F. Shafer said in a statement. “Providing online learning to our students is a critical part of our restart plan for the upcoming year. As we consider options and possible solutions to this complication, I want to assure students and families we will do everything we can to keep students learning in the year ahead.”
Board of Education President Kenneth L. Simmons called the news "an undeniable setback."
“Getting news like this within a month of the scheduled start of the new school year is an undeniable setback,” Simmons said. “The Paterson Public Schools District is one of many school districts in the nation that is being impacted by the low supply of Chromebook devices. We will be vigilantly working to find ways to get devices in the hands of our students as soon as possible.”
The Paterson school district originally placed a $3.4 million order for 13,845 Chromebooks on June 2 through federal CARES Act funding. According to the district, the order was placed through CDW Corporation, a technology products distributor, which partners with Lenovo, a company that manufactures Chromebooks.
News
The district said that officials in the district’s Information Technology Department have been following up to check the status of the order on a regular basis.
However, school officials were informed that an electronics company used by Lenovo, the Hefei Bitland Information Technology Company, is one of 11 companies in China that the U.S. Commerce Department has imposed trade sanctions against due to suspected human rights violations, the district said, adding that Lenovo has stopped all contact and engagement with Hefei Bitland and is currently working to bring three factories online to resume Chromebook production.
In the meantime, district officials are working on strategies to efficiently use the resources students currently have to commence learning during the upcoming school year.
