Acquiring Devices and Connectivity for Students

An overview of available purchase programs to assist schools in acquiring equipment and connectivity services for students. These are made possible through partnerships between the California Department of Education (CDE) and technological companies.

Overview of Available Purchase Programs

As it is recognized that Technology plays an essential role in delivering education, especially highlighted by the recent COVID-19 pandemic, the CDE has partnered with a few major technology companies and internet service providers to put together programs to make it easier for schools to acquire necessary equipment and services for their students. With the possibilities of continued remote and hybrid learning in many schools, the need for current devices, connectivity solutions, and engagement remains a top priority. To help support our California schools in acquiring and maintaining the needed technology solutions, please see the details below on the various programs and how to contact each of them.

NOTE: Inventory constantly changes, so please check this web page regularly for updates.

For questions on how we can provide assistance, please contact the Digital Divide team at DigitalDivide@cde.ca.gov.

Apple and T-Mobile Partnership

To place an order or for more information:

Contact your Apple or T-Mobile Education Account Manager. If you are not sure who your representative is, call 877-386-4246 and a dedicated education agent will set up a live meeting for your school district with a T-Mobile representative.
Submit a lead on the T-Mobile Business web page and T-Mobile will follow up within 24 hours.

T-Mobile Project 10Million

As of December 14, 2020, 379 Lenovo Chromebook wi-fi enabled devices are unallocated and available right now.
These devices are part of the T-Mobile Project 10Million, which gives eligible households 100GB of data per year and a free mobile hotspot for five years. Plus, participating school districts have the option to apply the value of the free program, up to $500 a year per student, towards additional data plans based on your students' needs.

For more information, please contact Kevin Thompson by email at Kevin.Thompson112@T-Mobile.com or by phone at 844-301-2667.

Office Depot Technology Solutions

HP and Lenovo Chromebooks are coming into warehouses for allocation to schools in 2021.
Windows laptops with various specs and manufacturers are available for immediate shipment.
Office Depot Contact form

For additional support, please contact:

Ben Aguilar, Sr. Inside Sales Manager—Western U.S., by email at Benjamin.Aguilar@OfficeDepot.com or by phone at 512-576-1732, or
Jimmy Montalto, Director of Technology—Western U.S., by email at James.Montalto@OfficeDepot.com or by phone at 913-710-3361

Staples Technology Solutions

Chromebooks becoming available to all nationwide Staples customers.
Multi-carrier (Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, & Sprint) Children's Internet Protection Act-compliant hot spots that offer simultaneous unlimited data with no throttling back on speed in stock now.
Information on these and additional offerings can be found on our Staples contact form .

For more information, please contact Kevin Totushek by email at Kevin.Totushek@staples.com or by phone at 916-402-4365.

CDW

As of December 1, 2020*:

CDW-G and ASUS have secured ASUS 11.6” C204 Chromebooks, which are in-stock and available for immediate delivery while supplies last, priced under $259 .
CDW-G has secured 25% off standard individual license price ($99) per user with a school or district purchase for the OTIS by Teq video based Professional Development platform. Schools and districts can lock in the discount with a two- or three-year commitment.
CDW-G has cameras and audiovisual technology available to support remote and hybrid learning. Learning Environment and Audio Visual Specialists are available to assist districts in addressing different options.
CDW-G has negotiated an exclusive promotion with Neverware to provide their CloudReady 10-month subscription at a highly discounted price for school districts in California. The 10-month subscription is to coincide with next year’s budget cycle.

* For more information on these special offers and other programs CDW-G has available for California educational agencies, visit this landing page

created for the California Department of Education. If you’d like more information or place an order, your CDW-G Account Team can assist you; please reach out to cde@cdw.com.

human-I-T

California based nonprofit, human-I-T, works to increase digital inclusion by providing schools and districts with laptops, tech support, and home internet options for their students.
Thousands of new Windows and Chrome devices are available starting at $240.
Flexible Tech Support plans are available in both English and Spanish for computing devices. (one year included at no charge on devices purchased from human-I-T).
Low-cost internet options are available for California families.

To connect with human-I-T, please use their human-I-T contact form .

CALNET Cellular Services

CALNET Program offers cellular voice and data services via competitively bid state contracts available to local government entities. Public schools can utilize these contracts by completing the two-step registration process. Once registered, schools may contact their chosen CALNET contractor sales representatives and submit a purchase order directly to their chosen CALNET contractor.

The details of the CALNET cellular services for K–12 schools and two-step registration process can be found at the following links:

California Department of General Services-Procurement Division (DGS-PD) Contracts

The DGS-PD has leveraged procurement agreements for laptop computers at contracted pricing to the State of California and local governmental agencies. To utilize these contracts, public schools may submit a purchase order directly to the contractors .
Refer to the DGS-PD Find Laptops available on Leveraged Procurements quick user guide and pricing sheet for ordering details.

Gold Star Technology

Golden Star Technology (GST) is a provider of IT and AV solutions and services for commercial enterprises, government agencies, and educational institutions.

Chromebooks becoming available to GST customers.
Windows devices are configured to order with current lead times of 4–12 weeks, depending on components.
See GST’s Solutions for CA Learning Loss Mitigation for more information.

For more information, please contact GST by email at CDE@gstes.com.

OmniPro

As of December 1, 2020, 15,000 Lenovo 100e Chromebook wi-fi enabled devices will be available. These Chromebooks cost $210 each with expected delivery in early January 2021.
Google Chrome license is offered on the Chromebooks for an additional $28 and white glove service for $9 per unit (Optional).
Microsoft Certified OEM “EVVO Windows Laptops Wi Fi Enabled” – Quantity 4000 with a one year warranty available NOW For $199.00.
These devices are part of Project 10M, which has the possibility of providing free hot spot and Data through T-Mobile. See contact information below for additional details.

For more information, please contact Edward Meyer by email at edward@omniprollc.com or by phone at 415-312-5846.