Knoch Middle School students will be using Acer Chromebooks to aid in their education this fall.

The South Butler School Board voted unanimously at Wednesday's school board meeting at Knoch Middle School to authorize the leasing of these laptops.

“The expanding use of technology helps us meet our goals of finding creative and innovative ways to personalize our learning,” said David Zupsic, South Butler School District superintendent.

Knoch High School has had Chromebooks for its students since the 2014-15 school year. School district director of technology Mike Losk said the positive experience students have had with the Chromebooks led to the expansion to the middle school.

There will be 1,405 Chromebooks for students and an additional 100 for teachers. The Chromebooks will be leased at the cost of $220,000 on an annual basis.

The money will come out of the school's technology budget.

Middle school students will have their own Chromebook, which they'll be able to take home.

South Butler Intermediate Elementary School students will have access to Chromebooks.

Losk said the Chromebooks allow for an interactive learning experience and gives them more time to work on projects at home.

“It's more of a personal learning platform,” Losk said.

The laptops have built-in software which monitors the students' use on a round-the-clock basis.

“It is a district device,” Losk said. “We do want to have safety when they're browsing the Internet.”

Another motion was passed Wednesday that will allow the school district to hire two, part-time high school interns to help with the implementation of the Chromebooks this summer.

They'll work no more than 160 hours each and will earn $8 per hour. Losk said the total cost of the interns will be around $2,500.

“With a limited scope of 47 days we have between when the teachers end and when they come back, the extra hands are a welcome addition,” Losk said.