By the end of this school year, all Central Kitsap Schools should have at least one mobile computer lab stocked with laptops for student learning activities.

Two weeks ago, the Central Kitsap School Board approved the $354,322 purchase for 19 mobile labs to be furnished with laptops.

“These laptops will be available for use in any activity for which teachers have historically used the fixed computer labs,” noted Mark Summers, CK director of information services. “In addition, these labs will be used extensively for the various online assessments required of our students.”

The labs will go into Central Kitsap High School, Olympic High School, Klahowya Secondary School, Clear Creek Elementary, Jackson Park Elementary and Woodlands Elementary for phase one. Depending on how the first phase goes will be dependent upon whether the rest of the CKSD schools will receive mobile labs.

Each mobile computer lab will have 30 laptop computers installed with Windows 8.1 operating systems. The labs will be placed on a mobile cart equipped with locks for secure storage. Students will not be able to check the laptops out for use at home.

The classroom computer labs will be “evaluated and redeployed to other classrooms or retired,” said Summers. Some of the new classrooms at the high schools will need in-class computers, so some of the computers will be moved to those areas as well.

“Consistent with our regular practice over each summer break, we will go through each school and determine whether we can move computer equipment around to enable us to retire our oldest and slowest machines and make best use of our remaining inventory,” Summers said.

As the laptops are implemented, technology staff will report back to the school board on how best to proceed if the laptops are proving to be effective in classroom learning, said Summers.