The Edgecombe County Board of Education approved $2.3 million Monday night to purchase laptops for all high school students and teachers.

The district hopes to give teachers laptops in the coming weeks. After four months of professional development, students are expected to be handed laptops in January, according to a timeline rolled out by Edgecombe County Public Schools Superintendent Dr Craig Witherspoon.

The school board discussed the proposal at length, as in past meetings. Some board members, Vice Chairwoman Ann Kent and John Edmondson, said they wanted reassurance from Witherspoon that funding for the project wouldn't take away from facility maintenance or put the district in a budget crunch like in recent year.

The school district will use $1.55 million from the Golden LEAF Foundation for the initial purchase of more than 2,000 laptops for high school students and teachers. Money from the Public School Capital Building fund will absorb the rest of the starting cost.

Board Chairwoman Evelyn Wilson, who has been adamant about the start of the project since its inception, was vocal Monday night as well, saying the board would be making a "serious mistake" if it didn't approve the project.

"I just know the urgency and the need for it," Wilson said Tuesday morning. "We can't keep talking about it. We've got to do something about it."