Board approves use of $50,000 Perkins CTE grant to replace outdated laptops

The Coffee County Board of Education voted July 14 to authorize spending $50,000 in Perkins Career and Technical Education (CTE) grant funds to replace outdated laptops used in CTE classes. Board members congratulated CTE Director Mister Skipper on securing the grant. “$50,000 Perkins grant … to replace our current outdated laptops,” the board chair said when presenting the item for approval. Trustees briefly debated whether the district should invest in Chromebooks for classroom use, and CTE staff clarified why laptops are necessary for some CTE coursework. A board member asked whether the district should avoid buying new laptops if other districts are getting rid of them; CTE and staff replied that laptops are needed for video and audio editing and Windows-based programming tools that Chromebooks do not support. The motion to approve using the grant funds for laptop purchases passed 6–0. The board recorded the approval as the district’s spending authorization for the Perkins funds; procurement and vendor selection were left to staff under usual purchasing rules.