AGHS repair team saves district thousands on laptop repairs

A team of Ash Grove High School students trained to fix broken computers—more specifically broken Chromebooks that all students have—has saved the district a boat load of money in its short three-year existence.
Ash Grove Technology Director Austin Houp, estimates that based on a normal $50 per hour repair fee the district has been able to save around $30,000 by having the student repair team troubleshoot and fix laptop problems.
“By having the students repair them instead of sending them out, we’ve saved the school district nearly $30,000 over the last three years, let alone the cool experience for the kids and I’m really excited to be able to offer this to our students,” Houp said during a presentation at the Sept. 23 Ash Grove Board of Education meeting.
The repair team was started by Houp, but has since been passed on to Robin Tucker, who works in the library where the repair team calls home.
Members of the team, Dayton Vest, Michael Blaine, Blake Hosman, Ian Tucker and Harley Mason, were all present at last Monday’s meeting to enlighten the board on what their club has accomplished.
Additionally, the team attended the 2019 International Society for Technology in Education Conference in Philadelphia where they spoke to thousands of attendees on their in-school computer service.