PORTAGE, MI -- Portage Public Schools Board of Education approved spending $260,000 to purchase 1,000 Chromebooks, which gets the district closer to one-to-one computer availability, district officials say.

Todd Chappa, third-grade teacher at Lake Center Elementary School, works with students on Chromebooks.

The purchase means that every school will have at least two carts of portable computers available for student use, said Dan Vomastek, the district's technology director.

Use of the Chromebooks were piloted last year by Todd Chappa, a third-grade teacher at Lake Center Elementary School, who used them to individualize instruction and better track student progress.

Chappa was a finalist for Michigan teacher of the Year this past spring. "We believe his creative use of technology was a significant factor in his recognition," said Sarah Baker, district spokeswoman.

In fact, Lake Center officials were so excited by Chappa's pilot project that the Lake Center PTO kicked in $25,500 for almost 100 Chromebooks for their school.

Vomastek said the Chromebooks have several advantages over a traditional laptop: They are much less expensive, have longer battery life and it's much quicker to get online.

A Portage third-grader uses a Chromebook.

Most of the rest of the $260,000 used to finance the Chromebook purchase came from leftover money in the 2008 bond funds, approved by voters to construct the new Lake Center and 12th Street elementaries and Portage Central High School and an extensive renovation of Portage Northern High School.

The expenditure will leave about $350,000 in the bond funds, of which $150,000 is designated for the demolition of the old Administration Building, Superintendent Mark Bielang said at Monday's meeting.

Julie Mack covers K-12 education and writes a column for Kalamazoo Gazette. Email her at jmack1@mlive.com, call her at 269-350-0277 or follow her on Twitter at @kzjuliemack.