Monday marked the start of more than 60,000 laptops being delivered to school districts around the state.
The donations are being made by Gov. Ned Lamont's Learning From Home Task Force and the Partnership for Connecticut. Both sides came together to provide the laptops for students in districts who are in great need of connectivity.
"We were coming close to every student having one laptop in New Britain," said Nancy Sarra, superintendent of New Britain Public Schools. "We weren't there yet and now we are because of the donations."
Since the beginning of the pandemic, the school district has worked to put laptops in the hands of students, specifically, high school students.
"We made sure the first wave was given to freshmen through seniors because we were worried about credit attainment," said Sarra. "We made sure every high school student had their own laptop."
The district mentions that they were working to accommodate elementary and middle school students.
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"All students in grades K-8 had at least one laptop in their household," said Sarra.
As the district began different phases to ensure students had laptops, their goal was to provide connectivity for students.
"We were working to help bridge the divide between you know alliance districts and other districts that have greater means," said Damon Pearce, the principal at New Britain High School.
The donations are setting up the school district like New Britain in a better position for the future.
"We know that for the entire 2020-2021 school year students will have these devices in their homes," said Sarra. "We have a task force now that's planning between now and the end of July to really plan out how we will operate during the fall semester."
A total of 400 laptops were delivered to New Britain High School on Monday and 2,000 laptops will be delivered on Tuesday.
