By Dan Murphy
City Councilman John Rubbo recently sent out an email blast to parents who are looking for an online learning device, laptop, tablet or Chromebook for their children as the Yonkers Public Schools, and all school disricts across Westchester County are preparing for remote-online learning, on September 8.
Rubbo highlighted the fact that the YPS has a limited number of available. “If your child is in need of a laptop, please complete the online request form at the link below. If you have more than one child in your home that is in need of technology then you will need to complete the form for each child.
From the YPS: “There are a limited number of laptops and tablets available. Priority for available devices will be given to high needs students, which includes Special Education and Multilingual learners.
“If you already borrowed a laptop/iPad and did not return it to the District, you will not be provided with another device. Also, if you received a laptop from your school, the District will not provide you with additional equipment.
Visit this link to connect to the Laptop Loan Program-http://bit.ly/YPSLaptopRequest
The Yonkers Public Schools has 4,000 laptops coming in and expected before the first day of class. That would give the district more than 7,000 total laptops to loan to students.
But with the recent news that there is now a national shortage of laptops, tablets and chromebooks, school districts are scrambling to make sure all students have a way to connect next month.
The largest computer companies, Lenovo, HP and Dell, are unable to fill all of the orders, with 5 million devices requested than they have. The computer companies explain that the US Government is to blame because it has banned a computer part made in China from being sent to the USA.
Also, the US Department of Commerce recently imposed sanctions on 11 Chinese companies including Lenovo, and school districts are now asking that those sanctions be lifted, but it may already be too late for the first day of school.
But the backlog in computer orders come from the spring, when the disruption of the supply chain from China began. Then with the Coronavirus pandemic intensifying in the US, high demand began with school districts and homes ordering more Chromebooks and other low-cost tablets and laptops.
In July, the Trump administration targeted Chinese companies that it claims were using forced labor and other human rights abuses to make products that are sold in the US. The slave labor camps involved the Uighurs, a minority Muslim population of 1 million in China.
One of the companies accused of using forced labor was the manufacurer of Lenovo laptops. This has resulted in Lenovo telling all of its customers that have already purchased laptops that it will take an additional several weeks to complete existing orders.
In February and March computer factories shut down for COVID-19 precautions. After that, new orders came in huge numbers from companies and governments looking to order computers for their employees, and from employees working at home. School districts were the next to begin to order large quantities of tablets and Chromebooks.
But some school districts did not anticipate in May that they would require thousands of new devices in the fall, resulting in orders not being placed until June and July, and supply not keeping up with demand.
One estimate has the total cost at $8 Million to provide a laptop for everyone of the 27,000 YPS students. Some students have a laptop or tablet already in their home, and do not require one.
If the 4,000 computers come in next week, the YPS will be as far along as any other school district in dealing with a new educational reality-making sure that every student has a device to learn from at home.
