Kingsport board approves purchase of 1,300 Chromebooks for sixth- and ninth-graders

At a special called business meeting on Jan. 27, the Kingsport City Schools Board of Education approved the purchase of 1,300 Dell Chromebooks and Google Chrome licenses intended for sixth- and ninth-grade students, citing a time-limited vendor quote and market-price fluctuations.

Unidentified Speaker 2, presenting the item, told the board the district received a quote that was only valid through Feb. 3 and urged expedited approval so the district could lock in current prices. "We're bringing this to you at a call meeting tonight so we can expedite the purchase of this," the speaker said.

The transcript records the per-unit price as $370 for each Dell Chromebook and a Google Chrome license price shown as $32 per device. Based on those figures, 1,300 devices at $370 plus 1,300 licenses at $32 would total $522,600; the meeting transcript records a total of $522,691. The board used a Wilson County Schools Cooperative Purchasing Agreement as the procurement vehicle and noted that because the purchase exceeds the $50,000 threshold it also requires subsequent approval by the Board of Mayor and Aldermen.

Unidentified Speaker 1 summarized the recommendation before the board: "The recommended action is to approve the purchase of 1,300 Dell Chromebooks for sixth and ninth grade students and Google Chrome licenses for a total cost of $522,691, utilizing the Wilson County Schools Cooperative Purchasing Agreement." A motion was made and seconded, and the chair recorded that the "Motion passes." The transcript does not include the mover's or seconder's names or a roll-call vote tally.

With the motion approved at the school board level, the next procedural step noted in the discussion is review and approval by the Board of Mayor and Aldermen at their Feb. 3 meeting, because the contract total exceeds the district's local approval threshold. The vendor quote's stated expiration date was cited as the primary reason for holding the special called meeting.

The board closed the special meeting after recording the passage of the motion.