MUSD to hand out thousands of laptops starting Monday

Maricopa Unified School District will begin distributing Lenovo laptops and technology to students next week.

The district has just over 7,600 devices, and enrollment has been hovering around that number as well. So, at least for the moment, MUSD is a 1:1 district.

Technology checkout request forms need to be completed by Sunday.

The first day of school for MUSD is July 30. Like many districts and charters, MUSD is starting the 2020-21 year entirely online due to the governor’s executive order keeping campuses closed until at least Aug. 17 to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.

At Maricopa High School, the distribution will start with those who have internet access at home. Freshmen will pick up laptops Monday followed by sophomores Tuesday, juniors Wednesday and seniors Thursday. From 8 a.m. to noon will be A-M names, and from noon to 4 p.m. will be N-Z.

Also Thursday, laptops will be distributed to students in grades 9-11 who have requested a mobile hotspot.

The distribution will be drive-up at the front of the high school campus, with vehicles entering through the east driveway. See map. Those who can are asked to complete parental consent paperwork before they arrive. Students must have their student ID.

Maricopa Wells and Desert Wind middle schools will have technology pickup Thursday and Friday, according to District Technology Coordinator Christine Dickinson, and July 27 will be the pick-up day for all six elementary schools.

Dickinson said the district did not want to overlap days so parents would have a better opportunity to make every school for their kids.

“I know many of the sites have communicated individual pick-up times already as families are emailing back,” Dickinson said.

July 29, the day before school starts, is reserved as a “non-schedule” day, she said, “meaning that’s open for campuses to get the rest of the devices out to those families who couldn’t make their days.”

Without typical open house events like “Meet the Teacher Night” available this year, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons have been established for teachers to reach out to each of their roster families and introduce themselves and go over any questions parents might have for the unique start of the school year.

After surveying families several times, the district’s tech crew estimated 700 hotspots would be necessary. Next week they will have 700 T-Mobile Hotspots available for students who requested them. Each will support up to five devices per household.

“I would like to thank the voters of Maricopa for the 2016 override being passed,” Dickinson said. “Had it not been for that override, we would not be in the position that we’re in right now.”