BATTLE CREEK, Mich. –
Defense Logistics Agency Disposition Services recently donated 98 excess military laptops to Naches Independent School District in Texas, where they are helping expand students’ access to digital learning.
Sherry Luna became the district’s instructional technology director when Rick Seymour retired in 2022. Before he left, Seymour told Luna about the Defense Department’s Computers for Learning program administered by DLA.
Since then, Luna has worked with the agency to bring more technology into the district. Her acquisitions have included iPads, monitors and printers for the school district, which serves 326 pre-K through 12th grade students.
Luna said the time had come to replace the aging devices used by the district’s seventh and eighth graders. She estimated that purchasing 50 new laptops would have cost about $15,000.
Then she discovered 98 available laptops through CFL – more than enough to upgrade the student devices and support teachers as well.
“The bulk of these are going to go to our seventh and eighth grade students so they all have full-size devices,” Luna said.
The remaining laptops, she said, will be issued to teachers.
“This will allow the teachers to take them home and do work after hours at home, because teachers do that,” she added.
Luna said the new laptops will also provide a better platform for the district’s career and technical education courses, which allow students to explore different career paths. Even though Naches ISD is a small district, the online CTE offerings – combined with improved technology – will give students access to broader educational opportunities.
“Being able to get these for free, having brand new devices for them to use, is phenomenal for us,” Luna said.