LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Unified School District is backing off the next phase of plans to put iPads in the hands of all district students amid an FBI investigation into its contract with Apple and Pearson.

Superintendent Ramon Cortines recently took over district operations from former superintendent John Deasy, who oversaw a bungled multi-year plan to buy $1.3 billion in iPads – loaded with Pearson education software – for every student and staffer in the district. Deasy, who continues to receive his full salary while on “special assignment,” halted plans earlier this year to purchase iPads for 27 different schools, but Cortines recently said the district would move forward with the purchase, the Los Angeles Daily News reports.

But after FBI agents raided the district’s headquarters Monday and hauled off 20 boxes of records pertaining to the deal between LAUSD, Apple and Pearson, Cortines reversed course.

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“I thought about it and I just feel certainly with the FBI investigation, as it relates to procedures, I’m not going to use or continue to use a contract that might be questioned later,” Cortines said, according to the news site.

“I don’t know that the FBI is interested in, so I’ve got to protect the district and protect the schools.”

The iPad-for-all initiative has been plagued with problems since the contract was signed with Apple in 2013. Students at 47 schools who received the devices last year quickly circumvented a flimsy firewall to surf social media, play games and access internet sites they shouldn’t. Teachers complained they weren’t properly trained on using the machines to help students.

Deasy also faced intense criticism after he revealed his close ties to Apple and Pearson executives. That criticism culminated with his resignation in October, the LA Times reports.

This week’s FBI raid at LAUSD is connected to a federal grand jury inquiry into the district’s contract with Apple. The U.S. Attorney’s Office issued a subpoena for all “score sheets; complete notepads, notebooks and binders; reports; contracts; agreements; consent forms; files; notices; agenda; meetings notes and minutes; instructions; accounting records” and other documents and communications surrounding the district’s dealings with Apple and Pearson extending back well before the 2013 contract.

The LA Times reports:

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“The iPads-for-all project was a signature initiative of Deasy. The project has been funded mostly through voter-approved, school-construction bonds.

“Deasy readily acknowledged that the project was an expensive draw from limited bond funds. But he said there was no other way to pay for what he called a civil rights imperative — to provide low-income students equal access to technology.

“The FBI seizure of documents came as the L.A. schools inspector general, Ken Bramlett, continued his inquiry into the events leading up to the agreement, which was expected to expand to about $500 million for the devices and curriculum — and another $800 million for staffing, improved broadband and other costs — as the iPad program rolled out across the sprawling school system.

 

“The results of a previous, confidential internal district investigation were reviewed by the L.A. County district attorney’s office, which declined to file charges.”

There is, however, a chrome lining.

Cortines’ decision to halt the Apple contract means students in the 27 schools scheduled to receive iPads this year won’t get them, but school administrators could opt instead to buy Chromebooks for students for next fall under a different contract, according to media reports.

Meanwhile, LAUSD is moving forward with a separate contract with Apple to use iPads for standardized testing this spring.

“On Nov. 20, the district’s bond advisory committee agreed to spend $13 million on testing devices under plans to spend $22 million on iPads and laptops for students to take new Smarter Balanced tests in the spring,” the LA Daily News reports.