District outlines 1-to-1 device plan, software approval rules and scaled-back hotspot program

Salt Lake City School District information technology staff told the board on March 4 that the district has largely achieved its stated goal of a student device for every student while continuing to refine device management, software approvals and connectivity supports.

At a board meeting presentation, Information Systems Director Sam Quantz said the district purchased about 10,400 devices in the initial years of its 1-to-1 plan and later bought an additional round of roughly 4,400 machines when federal ESSER funds were ending. He said the district plans a five-year device rotation and expects future purchases to be smaller as enrollment declines.

Quantz said the district standardizes on a business-class Windows laptop (HP ProBook x360 series) as its baseline device to meet instructional and testing requirements across grades. He explained the choice was driven by device management, warranty coverage and the need to run more memory‑intensive applications (for example, Adobe Creative Cloud for CTE courses). He also said iPads remain an option for select early-grade classrooms and for students with assistive-technology needs written into Individualized Education Programs.

The district inventory reported in the presentation showed roughly 23,525 district-managed student laptops and approximately 19,000 enrolled students, leaving a current surplus of devices. Quantz said the district tracks roughly 436 devices recorded as lost and 345 as damaged, and that planners intentionally budget a 10% surplus per school to absorb damage, enrollment churn and growth.

Quantz described a software approval process that screens about 400 vendor products for student data protections required under the Utah Student Privacy and Data Protection Act. He said 63 software requests were denied for privacy or technical reasons and 43 were duplicates; some denials were followed by district offers to provide an approved, equivalent product for classroom use.

On home connectivity, Quantz said a pilot private CBRS network built in neighborhoods around Glendale did not sufficiently penetrate into homes and was abandoned; the district has reduced its stock of loaner cellular hotspots from a high of roughly 1,500 during COVID to about 200 because demand has fallen. He said hotspots remain available for documented student need (for example, homelessness or lack of service) and for short-term use such as teacher travel.

Board members asked for further data about schools and apps with low usage, whether fee waivers or inequitable device access affect classroom use, and how device‑login and testing problems are triaged. Quantz said every school has a technician and a ticket system; he also announced the district is deploying a classroom‑management product (from the digital teaching and learning grant) to help teachers monitor and manage student devices.

District staff and board members agreed on the value of continuing a common device and software baseline while allowing site-based flexibility for special programs and CTE needs. Quantz said the district will continue to audit inventories, drill into low-usage apps, and provide a memo or follow-up data for board members who requested more detail.

The board received the update; no formal action was taken beyond questions and follow-up requests.

Ending: Staff committed to share the detailed drill-downs requested by board members (school-level app usage, low-usage software lists and a brief evaluation of hotspot demand). The district will roll out the classroom-management tool across devices this spring.