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Manatee County Schools outlines $9 million E‑Rate plan, 8,500 Chromebook refresh and expanded AI tools
Summary
At an Oct. 10 workshop the Manatee County School Board received an annual technology update outlining a five‑year plan that includes a $9 million E‑Rate funding request, a district share of roughly $1.8 million, a plan to deploy about 8,500 refreshed Chromebooks by February 2026, and new AI and chatbot pilots.
Miss Hanson, an information‑technology staff member, gave the board the annual update on the district’s five‑year technology plan on Oct. 10.
The presentation highlighted a recently approved $9,000,000 request for E‑Rate category‑2 eligible services that the district says will support network infrastructure, and said Manatee County Schools’ share of that five‑year package is roughly $1,800,000.
The update also outlined a technology refresh this school year that includes 1,000 teacher devices already refreshed and a plan to deploy just over 8,500 Chromebooks into classrooms by February 2026; 500 interactive displays have been installed or are scheduled across the district.
“The plan overall is a five‑year plan,” Hanson said, describing a phased approach to device and network upgrades and the district’s recent rollout of a communications module called Focus and a website chatbot labeled “Let’s Talk.”
Hanson described E‑Rate funding changes affecting the district: the federal per‑student discount changed from previous cycles…
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