Case Study: Penn Manor School District achieves 1:1 student computing and major cost savings with Ubuntu

An Ubuntu PC for everyone in Penn Manor School District

Penn Manor School District faced a major access problem: just 400 shared MacBooks for 1,725 students meant limited, scheduled use and no continuous access to full-featured computers. The district needed devices with full keyboards, local storage for offline work, programming capabilities, and a user-friendly interface — all within a tight budget — so tablets, most Windows PCs, and Chromebooks were ruled out.

Penn Manor deployed Acer TravelMate TMB113 laptops running Ubuntu, bundled with LibreOffice, Firefox/Chrome, and support for virtual classrooms and educational apps. Students now have personal machines at home and school after a ten-minute orientation; the migration delivered high capability at low cost, costing only about 20% more than the prior 400 MacBooks and saving roughly $200 per laptop in license fees in year one (about $345,000 total).

Penn Manor School District

Charlie Reisinger

IT Director