Lighter laptops may also help combat student complaints about the computers being too heavy to carry to school.
District surveys have shown that many students don't bring their laptops to school every day – but that's also because teachers don't always encourage their use.
The high schools plan to conduct meetings and set goals to improve student use of the laptops. A key goal is to improve training for teachers.
Mr. Hill said one challenge is that some teachers continue to resist using laptops in class.
Owen DeWitt, a former school board member who pushed for the laptops, said more affordable units should have been looked at from the beginning.
"We were spending huge dollars for something that wasn't well adapted yet for any of the regular high schools," he said. "You've got to weigh functionality vs. cost."
