EPISD distributes thousands of laptops ahead of first day of school

The start of a new school year for the El Paso School District is a few weeks away, but thousands of students are gearing up with new laptops.

The district is issuing laptops to all middle and high school students.

On Monday at the Young Women’s Academy, students got their hands on new Apple MacBook Air laptops.

Teachers were also on-hand to help the students navigate through the new laptops.

Just ahead of the the first day of school, EPISD will issue more than 12,300 computers.

“Our students, our children sometimes are more versed in the technology than we are. They can grab a smartphone and they can do anything with it, so why wouldn’t we allow them to use that in the classroom,” said Melissa Martinez, EPISD spokeswoman.

The distribution of more laptops this year is possible because of the voter-approved 2016 bond.

EPISD started issuing computers to high school students in 2015, and now all students have a MacBook of IPad at their disposal for school use.

The laptops initially handed to middle or high school students will be refurbished and given to elementary students, according to Martinez.

The use of new laptops does not completely eliminate text books.

“It does replace those paper textbooks to a large extent, particularly in our high school core classes,” Martinez said.

EPISD said provides all students and their families with free access to digital textbooks and software.

Since 2015, the district has handed out more than 31,000 laptops to middle and high school students.

The first day of class for EPISD is August 13.