AL school district doing away with textbooks

Thursday, May 8, 2014

CLEBURNE, Ala. - Cleburne schools officials have authorized a plan to eliminate textbooks and have students learn core subjects on laptop computer next year.

The Anniston Star reports the city's education board approved of buying 800 Google Chromebooks for the district's high school students. The newspaper reports the move will cost the district about $391,200.

Superintendent Claire Dryden says students will be given a laptop and a tutorial on using them during their summer orientation.

Officials say the laptops will be loaded with PDF versions of required textbooks for core classes - including math, science, reading and language arts. Students will also be able to access the textbooks online from other internet-enabled devices.

Dryden says aside from preparing students for a computer-based workforce, the laptops are cheaper to buy annually than textbooks.