South Putnam looks toward 1:1

The South Putnam School Board is making strides in its technology department as it works to develop a 1:1 plan.

Steve Ricketts of Five Star Technology came before the board during its monthly meeting on Monday evening to give an update on what needs to be done this summer, in 2015 and 2016.

Ricketts had previously came before the board last April to talk about a three-year technology plan, which included replacing several of the corporations computers in waves.

However, with the 1:1 idea on the boards mind, Ricketts noted that he chose not to address the issue of computer labs at this time for fear of wasting money.

"Our thinking here is, don't dump a bunch of money into new workstations for the computer labs if in three-four years those are going to be going away," Ricketts said. "Eventually, we are going to be able to test on Chrome Books, we are going to be able to test on iPads."

This summer however, Ricketts recommended that the board replace 70 workstations for the staff, which were purchased in Spring 2010 with stimulus money.

"We're all out of warranty on all these workstations," Ricketts explained. "Right now we're okay, but as you know as time goes on things break."

Ricketts noted that this year, the all 350 workstations, both staff and student, which were purchased in 2010 with the stimulus money, are running Windows XP.

"All of our student machines, all the labs, are still running Windows XP. Now if there's a virus or some sort of security hack or anything that comes out, Microsoft is not patching that moving forward," Ricketts explained. "Our preparation is to get everybody moved to Windows 7 this summer. So, in preparation for that we upgraded all of our lab memory to four gigabytes this year and this will also extend the life of our lab computers."

In total, to replace the 70 staff workstations, the board agreed to pay $49,280 or $704 each.

"The staff workstations need to be replaced because they've got more work to do," Ricketts said. "They've got to do grade books, research, they run the Smart Boards. They actually run applications."

It was noted that the cost for the workstations is higher due to the warranty on the machine as well as it is a business class machine, which is a lot different than what one can buy at an electronic store.

Board member Anthony Heavin suggested just replacing the CPU's and continuing using the monitors. However, Ricketts noted that monitors themselves are not that much money and the corporation could choose to save some of that money, but the staff machines will be used as replacement parts for the student lab computers.

Ricketts also recommended that the corporation replace its Project Lead the way workstations, which were purchased in 2009 and are in bad shape and also only support Windows XP.

"This is one of the dual credit classes," Ricketts explained. "The problem with those machines is the cost (to replace) is up there around $1,000 because you're doing things like Auto CAD, you're doing things like Photoshop."

Ricketts recommended that if the corporation would like to continue with that program, the corporation purchase 20 new workstations to meet the class needs at a cost of $1,000 each or $20,000, which the board approved.

Also to be done this summer, Ricketts advised the board that the laptop carts in the elementary school need replacing as well.

The computers themselves were purchased in 2007 and also only support Windows XP. Thus, Ricketts recommended and gained approval for purchasing 60 Chrome Books, which would also help as the corporation transitions to the 1:1 program, at a total cost of $25,000.

"They try to use them and we struggle to keep them up and going," Ricketts noted. "They're to the point now that they're going to need to be addressed. I've got requests now from both elementary schools to have them replaced with something. It will also provide us kind of a test bed or a pilot program at the elementary school."

Among the things that will need to be done in 2015 are replacing the remaining staff workstations, increasing bandwidth from 25 Mbps to 50 Mbps and adding wireless coverage throughout the buildings.

In 2016, Ricketts recommended improving wireless coverage by adding access points in more areas as well as launching the pilot program for 1:1.

Ricketts also presented the board with a rough timeline to implement 1:1.

As far as the next school year goes, Ricketts noted that an email has already been sent out to get volunteers for the Technology Committee, which will be focusing on site visits, device considerations and teacher training during the 2014-15 school year.

"Obviously there is going to be a financial factor," Technology Integrator Tona Gardner said. "As we sort of prepare for that time and we start looking at some grant applications and we look at what the states looking for, they're looking at our curriculum. They don't want us to have a technology plan for the sake of technology, they want us to have a technology plan because we're using it to forward our curriculum."

Gardner noted that integrating technology to further the curriculum will be the committee's biggest focus next year as the state implements its new standards and assessment next spring.

"Each school has been looking at their own curriculum in comparison to the state over the last several years. We have a strong school corporation," Gardner said. "But we haven't had a standard template that everybody's been using across all three schools to document what we're doing K-12."

Creating that uniformity throughout the corporation will also be a major focus for the technology committee moving forward as it works to implement 1:1.

In 2015, the technology committee will look at choosing what grade levels would work best for the 1:1 program as well as planning a timeline, device selection, site visits and teacher training.

Board member Wes Hacker also advised Ricketts and Gardner that he would like to see a detailed plan on how the corporation would sustain a 1:1 program over the years and what the board should be looking to do now in preparation for the major cost that goes along with it.

"I want to make sure once we're committed we can do it," Hacker said.

The board approved Ricketts to purchase the new staff work stations, Project Lead the Way computers along with the Chrome Books, but advised to not exceed $120,000. The new technology will come out of the rainy day fund.

In other business:

* The board approved the purchase of a 15-foot batwing finish mower for a cost of $14,939 from Plainfield Equipment.

* The board approved buying a combination oven at a cost of $22,583 from B and B Food Distributors.

* The board approved a high school textbook adoption through Pearson. The new books will come with online resources as well.

* The board honored the following students at its May students of the month, Central Elementary student Johnny Mitchell, Fillmore Elementary student Lydia Burkart, middle school student Rachel Jones and high school student Emily Dobson.

* The board also approved the resignations of Matthew Steward and Jennifer Tomaw along with the hiring of middle school/high school teachers Jennifer Boesch, Samantha Ricks and Coen Weiler and part-time food service worker Sherry Hanley.