Ambridge Area board adopts $66.7M budget, approves major tech purchases as Chromebook deliveries delay

The Ambridge Area School District board adopted its final general operating fund budget for the 2026–27 fiscal year on May 20, approving a $66,668,042 plan that the board said includes no tax increase.

At the same meeting trustees approved multiple technology purchases to respond to supply delays and to refresh older equipment. The purchases listed by the district included 72 ACES Chromebooks for $34,802.64 (to be funded from a high‑school CSI grant), 50 Dell Pow Pro towers at $94,009.50, 523 Asus Chromebooks at $240,449.25 (to be paid from 2025–26 funds), and 251 Alcatel desk phones for $36,328. The board moved and carried adoption of the education and technology items by roll call.

The technology approvals followed a presentation describing a supply‑chain disruption affecting the district's Dell Chromebook order. The presenter, identified in discussion as Kristen in IT, told trustees that the Dell devices originally scheduled to arrive May 1 were postponed until Sept. 9 because parts were unavailable. "They were supposed to arrive on May 1," Kristen said. "We were notified on that date that they are now gonna be postponed until September 9, because they can't get the parts in to build these machines for us."

District members debated whether to cancel the Dell order or keep it to preserve locked‑in pricing. A board member summarized the tradeoff as preserving the pricing and avoiding an expensive overlap in replacement cycles, urging that the district "lock in pricing and try to stay ahead of it." The board ultimately approved purchasing available Asus units now and retaining the Dell order (which would be paid from the general fund) to preserve the lower price even though delivery would fall into the following school year.

Board documents show the Chromebook purchases would be funded from a mix of CSI grant funds and existing budgets; the approved technology amounts in the agenda total $405,589.39 across the listed vendor quotes. The district also noted that the previously approved 77 Dell Chromebooks will be paid out of the general fund rather than the grant.

The vote on the final budget and the grouped education and technology items was taken by roll call and carried. The budget resolution was presented as "resolution 2026‑2027‑1 adopting the final general operating fund budget for the 2026–27 fiscal year in the amount of $66,668,042" and board minutes list two additional fiscal resolutions on homestead/farmstead exclusion and real estate installment payments that were included in the finance package.

What happens next: procurement staff and IT will coordinate with vendors (CDWG and Communications Consulting Incorporated were listed as vendors in agenda documents) to finalize quotes and shipping. Several purchases noted that solicitor review or state approval (for flexible instruction day applications) remained pending. The board did not change tax rates as part of the adoption.