Pearl River County School District students will be issued personal Chromebooks for school use for the 2020 through 2021 school year. Providing access to those devices is intended to aid in virtual learning and reduce the risk of spreading COVID-19 through shared laptops.

Students who were already issued a Chromebook in the spring will keep the device for continued use through the upcoming school year.

Traditional students will be issued a Chromebook at school by their homeroom teachers during the week of Aug. 17.

Virtual students will be able to pick up a Chromebook on Aug. 10 from 4 p.m. until 6 p.m. at the PRC Elementary School auditorium. The schools asks that those picking up laptops for virtual students enter from McNeill Henleyfield Road and have a photo ID ready.

The personal Chromebooks will make things easier for students who are learning virtually this year.

“The students of the parents that took advantage of the virtual learning option, they will be doing their schoolwork from home and the district will be providing those students with a Chromebook to access the teacher videos and the Google Classroom platforms which is where they will complete their assignments,” said Superintendent Alan Lumpkin.

Lumpkin said traditional students will be issued a personal Chromebook as well.

He said all of the students have had access to laptops at the school for the past four years already.

“Basically they will just be continuing what they’ve done in previous years,” Lumpkin said. “The only thing that changes is the Chromebooks were in the classroom. They didn’t stay with the child. The thing that will change is this year is the child will be issued a Chromebook to stay with them so we’re not sharing Chromebooks of course because of the COVID.”

“Basically it’s just a Chromebook that’s assigned specifically for them so they won’t be sharing,” Lumpkin said. “That’s the main difference you’re going to be seeing this year with the Chromebooks.”