Broward County public schools hand out thousands of laptops to students

Superintendent says it’s unlikely classes will resume as normal in mid-April

BROWARD COUNTY, Fla. – Tens of thousands of laptops will be handed out Friday in Broward County so students can continue learning, even outside of the classroom.

Parents filed into Walter C. Young Middle School -- some with their kids in tow -- to pick up the laptops.

“We are prepared today to deliver over 90,000 devices should that be necessary,” Broward County Public Schools Superintendent Robert Runcie said.

Runcie and School Board Chair Donna Korn showed up to speak with some of those families.

They said this is the best way they can help students move to distance learning while they deal with closed schools because of the coronavirus.

“Learning never closes, so when you go to BrowardSchools.com their information is there on the site. There’s actually information already available, and then March 30th is when we are going to have instruction begin,” Korn said.

All across the county, long lines snaked outside of schools as families waited to pick up the computers.

And although right now schools are scheduled to re-open in mid-April, Runcie admitted that it’s looking like that will not be the case.

“I’ll tell you, I think it’s unlikely that we return to campus normal instruction on April 15th, so we’re planning for the long haul,” Runcie said. “I think it’s the prudent thing to do.”