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Londonderry School Board approves technology purchases as device prices rise
Summary
The board approved a bundled purchase of student and staff laptops and interactive whiteboards after district technology staff warned of a roughly 25% price increase in device components; the vote was unanimous (5–0).
The Londonderry School Board voted May 19 to approve district technology purchases aimed at maintaining classroom devices amid rising costs.
Technology staff told the board that supply-chain and component-price pressures — driven largely by steep increases in DDR/RAM prices — pushed average device costs up roughly 25% this year. The board approved a bundled purchase that includes 375 student Lenovo ThinkBook laptops at $659 each from vendor Y and S, 375 Chromebooks at $336.90 each from Y and S, 145 teacher Lenovo ThinkBook 16" laptops at $879 each from Connection, and 11 interactive whiteboards from Insight at $1,389.90 each. The motion bundled all items into a single vote and passed 5–0.
"Most of these price increases are being driven really by one thing ... the RAM in these laptops. Those prices are up 300 to 400%," the district technology representative said, explaining why the district reduced quantities and prioritized replacements for incoming sixth graders and essential staff devices.
Board members and staff said the district would stretch existing devices where possible to avoid a large future ask of taxpayers but acknowledged the risk of deferring replacements. The district noted it pared some planned replacements for staff and labs to stay within budget while preserving critical purchases.
Next steps: staff will finalize purchase orders with the listed vendors and proceed with deployment over the summer and fall, with further budget discussions expected during fall budget planning.
