Friday, May 23, 2008

Boston teachers to get Apple laptops in $6.2M deal

By Christopher Calnan

Boston Public Schools has entered into a $6.2 million contract with Apple Inc. and a South Boston information technology firm, that is putting 5,250 laptop computers in the hands of teachers and administrators during the next four years.

The laptop program, which is being partially administered by South Boston-based HiQ Computers, includes more than 5,000 Apple Workbook computers, nine servers, lockdown devices, training programs and repair services.

The contract comes at a cost of $1,100 per teacher — less than the retail cost of a single Workbook, school officials said.

The school department is replacing desktop computers with laptops to give teachers more mobility while upgrading its inventory of computers.

The bulk of the laptop money, $4.2 million, came from the settlement of a 1998 Microsoft Corp. lawsuit with the state attorney general’s office relating to the bundling of Internet Explorer with its Windows operating system.

During March and April, officials distributed computers and trained 4,000 employees in 144 schools. The remaining laptops are scheduled to be distributed to new employees next school year, CIO Kimberly Rice said.

Six vendors initially submitted bids on the four-year contract that included the three components of the deal: Hardware, service and repair, and training. But school officials eventually decided to separate the three components and select vendors for each through a list of state-approved IT vendors, Rice said.

Under the arrangement, Apple is providing the laptops and software while working with HiQ on distributing the machines to the schools. HiQ is also performing the service and repair portion of the contract, according to Rice.

HiQ CEO Jane Sheng declined to disclose what financial portion of the total contract her IT firm will receive. Founded in 1993, HiQ employs 30 workers, but none of them will be dedicated full time to the school contract, she said.

HiQ has performed IT services such as upgrading and retrofitting PCs for the school department for 15 years, Sheng said.

Apple officials didn’t return messages seeking comment. Last week, Apple opened its largest U.S. retail store in Boston — offering customers 20,000 square feet of Apple products in a three-story building on Boylston Street.

After the four-year contract expires, school officials will consider vendors again for the laptop program, Rice said.