Orange County NC Website
Browse       Search
15 <br /> and much easier to manage (than Windows and Apple OS devices), but also the <br /> introduction of Chromebooks coincided with the adoption of the Google G-Suite for <br /> Education platform at CHCCS. The District purchased Chromebooks in a staged <br /> approach, replacing Windows/Apple OS based devices first at the high schools, then <br /> middle schools, and eventually the Grade 3-5 ES school classrooms. <br /> In 2018-19, through several years of incremental purchasing of Lenovo model <br /> Chromebooks (11 e, N21, N22, N23, 100e), the District achieved a 1:1 student to device <br /> ratio for Grades 3-12. However, these devices were used in a shared cart system for all <br /> grades. When needed, teachers scheduled the use of a cart. Students did not carry <br /> devices between classrooms and did not carry devices between classrooms and did not <br /> take them home. <br /> Beginning in the 2019-20 school year (August 2019), the District shifted to a 1:1 Device <br /> Take- Home program for Grades 6-12 (approximately 6,800 students). The CHCCS <br /> Board of Education and administration decided in the spring of 2019 to use this current <br /> year as a "bridge" while a formal Request for Proposals (RFP) with purchase and lease <br /> options was published for bid (February 17, 2020). The RFP deadline was March 2, <br /> 2020, and sealed bids were opened the following day. Seven (7) bids were received from <br /> the following vendors: <br /> 1. Applied Technologies <br /> 2. Virtucom <br /> 3. Trinity3 <br /> 4. Insight <br /> 5. NWN Corp. <br /> 6. Howard Technologies <br /> 7. CDW-G <br /> The RFP bid included hardware specifications for 7,650 Chromebooks for Grade 6-12 <br /> students (estimated middle and high school enrollment for 2020, plus 10% for spares). <br /> *Note: At this time the District will continue the shared cart system for Grades 3-5 <br /> (Chromebooks). <br /> Vendors were asked to provide purchase and lease pricing for (3) hardware options (with <br /> varied specifications) to provide flexibility based upon instructional need(s), cost/value, <br /> service/warranty, accessories (EMR pens, ruggedized cases) and other factors. All <br /> proposals were required to provide full purchase cost and 4 year leasing option(s) pricing <br /> for each hardware option specified in the RFP. <br /> The lease agreement will allow the District to replace/retire approximately 7,000 5-6 year <br /> old out of warranty devices that are currently being used by Grades 6-12 students. These <br /> devices will soon become end of life for Google Chrome OS updates, hindering or <br /> making unusable many instructional applications that our faculty utilize in the Google <br /> application eco-systems. <br /> The new devices are flip/touch Chromebooks with an on-board stylus and include a 4 <br /> year accidental damage and theft warranty and ruggedized case. The successful <br /> proposal was chosen from a rigorous decision analysis performed by a team of <br /> stakeholders (Information Technology staff, Finance, Instructional Technology staff, and <br /> a classroom teacher) that evaluated various brands/models using numerous "must-have" <br /> and weighted criteria. Bids that did not meet all must have criteria were eliminated. The <br />