By Justin Roshak, Contributing Writer
HUDSON – More than 20 percent of the 850 new Chromebooks that the Hudson Public Schools received over the summer have needed repairs, according to a report presented to the School Committee last month.
By September, students and educators had noticed a green-and-black disturbance appearing near the bottom of the screen. Dubbed “fuzzies” by students, these graphical errors grew and spread until the Chromebook was unusable.
As of Oct. 26, 183 Chromebooks had experienced this issue, according to that report. But school leaders expect “fuzzies” to emerge in all 850 of the district’s devices. Those devices will likely need servicing to address the issue.
School leaders said the issue has appeared on Chromebooks across the United States.
The district has been working with Dell to repair and replace the damaged Chromebooks, which are believed to suffer from a specific manufacturing error. The replacement process involves Dell shipping a replacement part and assigning a technician to do the repair. Repairs take place in school buildings.
Of the 183 damaged units, 92 had been replaced and another 90 had replacement parts on backorder as of Oct. 26.
Loaners are available for students whose Chromebooks are not usable. However, the district has experienced difficulty swapping out loaner Chromebooks for the repaired ones.
Hudson Public Schools leases its Chromebooks with “Pro Support Plus,” which has made repairs more affordable and assistance more accessible.
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