Last month, Omaha Public Schools announced a change to cellular data on school-issued iPads.  

Toward the beginning of the 2024 school year, emergency funds that were given to schools because of the Covid-19 pandemic were cut. Part of these funds went toward paying for cellular data on the iPads given to students and teachers. The cost of the cellular data was then taken out of the district’s general funds. 

“We want to make sure we were being good stewards of our taxpayer’s money,” Charles Wakefield, Chief Operations Officer of OPS, said. 

Starting next school year, cellular data will no longer be offered, and the iPads will only run when connected to the internet. This decision comes amidst many budget cuts around OPS. 

“This will absolutely affect some students because anytime we make a change it does,” Wakefield said.  

Due to a miscalculation from the Nebraska Department of Education, Omaha Public Schools was overpaid by about $30.5 million this school year, according to WOWT. To make up for this, money will be taken out of next year’s budget. The shortage in the budget is estimated to be about $50.6 million. 

OPS has broken into their reserve funds to help close the gap in funds, but higher taxes and possible staff cuts still loom. The cut of cellular data is one of the first things that has been enacted for schools due to the shortage. Many people from across the district were a part of the discussion toward the decision. 

“We had a group of about 30 make a work group that met all of last school year, multiple times, to have this discussion,” Wakefield said.  

A study was done into how student iPads are used, and they say that a majority of the use is when it is connected to the internet. The district also says that many elementary schools don’t send iPads home with students. 

“This really started by looking at usage and looking at needs. So how often do we need a student connected where they couldn’t be connected to the Internet and how often students were actually using that,” Wakefield said.  

For students who may not have access to the internet on a regular basis, schools will be given a few iPads that are equipped with cellular data. They will be distributed to schools based on need and frequency of check-out.