BUFFALO, N.Y. — Students in Buffalo Public Schools can now see a green webcam light on their own personal laptops.

What You Need To Know

  • BPS officials say more than 2/3 of the district were given a device in the spring amid the COVID-19 shutdown
  • The nearly 10,000 tablets that recently arrived are for pre-K, kindergarten and first grade
  • All students will be equipped by the end of the week
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"I'm excited to have the BPS devices in our home, I think it will make logging on a lot easier every day," said Whitney Crispell, who has a kindergartener and a first grader.

Crispell says she took a sigh of relief when she was told her family could pick up their laptops this week. She says using their own computer at home for multiple kids was not an easy task.

"There was definitely a learning curve the first week when we were trying to set up the apps and programs that they were using on our own personal family devices,” she said.

School officials say more than two-thirds of the district were given a device in the spring amid the COVID-19 shutdown. The nearly 10,000 tablets that recently arrived are for pre-K, kindergarten and first grade. The district’s tech department says coronavirus was just one factor that delayed the process in getting devices to all students at the same time.

"We also applied with our New York State education department to use funding through Smart Schools Program to provide the resources, but we had to wait for approval to utilize that funding," said Myra Burden, chief technology officer for Buffalo Public Schools.

Even though some students started the year without electronics, the school district made sure they wouldn't fall behind on academics.

"We gave them paper packets to try and fill in the gap while we waited for these devices to come in, so they have not been without instruction over these past few months,” Burden added.

BPS officials say the computers will come equipped with all the apps and software that students will need. They also say the devices are free as long as the student stays enrolled within the district.