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 By ELLEN MORTENSEN
Chief Assistant Editor
Broken Bow High School juniors and seniors will return to school this fall with a new educational tool.
In a unanimous decision by the Broken Bow Board of Education, approval was given for the purchase of new laptop computers for next year’s juniors and seniors and their instructors. The board approved the one-to-one initiative for the school in September 2008, with final approval on the specifics of the program at Monday’s meeting.
BBHS technology coordinator Jim Ingram presented the board with a proposed program from the school’s technology department. The eLearn Initiative, known generally as one-to-one computing, is a project to place a laptop computer in the hands of every high school junior and senior, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Watch this week's Custer County Chief for:
* Teams of Summer - a special 20-page section with photos of area baseball and softball teams * Central Nebraska Weight Loss Challenge - the final tab of this year's challenge, with complete results - including the announcement of this year's winning teams!
The program also calls for providing teachers with professional development to take best advantage of the learning opportunity this new program presents. The school improvement technology committee, administration, school board’s technology and finance subcommittees, Jana Kaelin and Ingram, all worked together to come up with a model that best addresses the school’s technology needs.
The committee recommends that the new laptops be Windows-based, to take best advantage of the existing network. They also suggest the vendor who works closely with ESU10 be awarded the contract.
The principal funding source for the eLearn Initiative is poverty funds, which the school applied for last October. Those funds were granted with the stipulation by the state that the money be used only to fund this project.
BBHS Principal Ken Kujath says using poverty funds for this type of project is entirely appropriate, as the purpose of the poverty funds is to provide equality learning for all students.
“Some kids have an opportunity to get on the Internet at home, and on their cell phones. But some do not. This program will provide that same opportunity to all our junior and senior students,” said Kujath.
Ingram echoed that in his report, saying the project “levels the economic playing field and offers the same opportunity to all students, regardless of socioeconomic status.”
Initially the school planned to purchase the equipment outright, but discovered that leasing plans provide several advantages. A lease allows the costs to be spread out over the life of the equipment for budget planning purposes.
Enough laptops for all juniors and seniors, all teachers of juniors and seniors, technical support staff, and spares for check-out and repair delays, would mean the purchase of approximately 170 laptops. The purchase of these laptops, which includes accidental damage and theft coverage and licensing for application software on a three-year lease is $72,648.48 per year.
Ingram explained that absorbing these costs into the existing technology budget for the 2009-10 school year produces a bottom line for general technology expenses of approximately $255,500. With poverty funds of $138,000, and the traditional $80,000 budget allocated for technology in previous years combining at $218,000, this leaves a deficit of about $47,500 remaining to be funded.
Following a lengthy discussion by the board, the program was approved for implementation this fall.
Other agenda items requiring action by the board included:
• Approval of new teacher contract for Sara Tolstedt for secondary language arts. She will also co-sponsor the speech and one-act teams.
• Approved the second readings of policies regarding special education, at risk students, substitute teachers, open flames in buildings, and cell phone usage in student transportation vehicles.
• Approved handbooks for preschool, sponsor/coach acti-vities, middle school student parent activities, and high school student/parent activities.
• Revised the classified wage scale to add a district office IV classification.
The next meeting was set for July 20 at 7:30 p.m. |
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