ILLINOIS COMPUTERS STOLEN http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/lake/east-chicago/article_1975e0af-ad6d-5854-b412-8a037d1ad4d7.html

East Chicago students report stolen MacBooks

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By Carmen McCollum carmen.mccollum@nwi.com, (219) 662-5337 | Posted: Tuesday, April 26, 2011 9:00 pm |(27) Comments

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The the School City of East Chicago MacBook computer purchase, including installation of the wireless software at the schools and other technological advances, is being financed through a four-year lease-purchase arrangement with Apple Computers. Apple has charged the district 1.9 percent interest over the period.

The district made a down payment of $300,000 in October, with the first payment of $866,244 scheduled for July 11 and paid annually over four years.

EAST CHICAGO | Several student Apple MacBooks have been lost or stolen after the School City of East Chicago invested millions to purchase them.

East Chicago Police Chief Gus Flores confirmed there are 26 reports of lost or stolen laptops. Six of those laptops have been recovered, and at least one teen has been arrested in connection with a missing computer.

The $4.2 million Apple MacBook purchase is part of the district's plan this school year to put a laptop in the hands of every student in grades five through 12. The district also upgraded the technology in the school buildings to use the computers. The MacBooks are valued at about $1,000 each.

Parents were required to attend a series of meetings earlier this year to provide identification and residency information. Students who did not have the proper authorization were allowed to check out computers for use during the school day.

Flores said the department expected reports of missing computers.

"These are expensive laptops," Flores said. "Like anything else, if kids are careless with it, someone will take advantage of that. People can probably get good money on the street for those laptops. The school entrusted those students with an expensive piece of equipment."

Though Flores has not had any direct communication with East Chicago Superintendent Mike Harding, he knows that many of his officers have had ongoing dialogue with school officials about the laptops.

"My understanding is that they are equipped with GPS systems within them," Flores said. "We've heard that one of them was located in Mexico, but I don't know that for sure. We don't know what the procedure is for locating the computers, if the vendor is responsible."

The laptops have gone missing from students at Block Middle School, the West Side Freshmen Center and East Chicago Central High School. According to some of the reports, students sat the computers down and looked around and the laptop wasn't there anymore.

In one case, a young woman reported she got into an "altercation" with her boyfriend in the "blue stairwell between the first and second floor" at Central High School. She dropped her MacBook, someone else picked it up and ran, but police were able to identify the student from surveillance video.

In another case at Central, a teen took a MacBook that was in the "Commons" area. Authorities were able to identify the student from the video, however when they questioned him, he didn't have the computer in his possession. The teen was arrested and transported to a police substation for further processing.

A parent reported her son left his laptop at church when it went missing. Another student reported her laptop was stolen from her boyfriend's apartment along with an amplifier and gym shoes when someone ripped a window screen open.

During a School Board meeting last month, member Constance El Amin asked administrators if they had a procedure in place for the return of the laptops. At that time, they said they were working on it.

Central interim Principal Wendel McCollum said Tuesday they are looking at a process where the laptops will be returned much the same way textbooks are returned.

"We'll do it by academic teams. The teams will collect the laptop just as they would collect textbooks, probably a week before school is out. We don't have a specific date yet. We're still finalizing it," he said.

McCollum said the district also is considering a plan to give laptop computers to graduating seniors. He said some members of the senior class suggested that would be a great incentive. No decision has been made, McCollum said.

He also said there are about 350 seniors, and 294 of them are on target to graduate. Of the laptops that are stolen or missing in the district, McCollum said seven of those incidents occurred at Central, and all but one laptop has been recovered at that school.