South Putnam moving forward with 1:1 transition

The South Putnam School Board approved adopting “Successful Tradition - Innovative Future” as the new motto for the school corporation after a 1:1 technology update during its recent regular meeting.

Tona Gardner, director of curriculum and instruction, reported that, as of April, there were only 13 device damage claims (out of 734 devices).

“That’s unheard of,” Five-Star Technology Director Steve Ricketts said.

Angie Nichols said, “That’s a testament of our kids.”

Director Ricketts added, “And of South. It’s that teacher seeing a kid footballing it down the hall and saying, ‘Put it in the bag or you’re going to the office.’”

Director Gardner recounted that one device had been completely submerged, but “came to life” after being placed in a device dry-out bag.

“That talks to the durability,” Director Ricketts said, “The military grade specifications of this device.”

As a review, Director Gardner said that all teachers and high school students have take-home devices while all 3rd-5th grade students have in-class devices.

By this fall, the 2nd grade will also have in-class devices and all 6th-8th grade students will have take-home devices. The device roll-out dates for this year are Aug. 1 for grades 6-9 and Aug. 4 for grades 10-12.

Director Gardner also reported that the high school computer science courses are gaining popularity, and there will be more offerings in that program in the future.

“This is an important program,” Director Gardner said. “The students who have already signed up for computer science classes, that number is higher than the number last year. We know this is going to evolve ... And our hope is that we want all students to be able to take computer science before they leave South Putnam. But for those students who have a strong interest, that see themselves pursuing that, have more opportunities to gain courses starting their freshman year.”

In a recent special meeting, the board approved renovating the current business lab into a library and the current library into a computer science classroom, conference room and archives/records room in a 3-2 vote with Anthony Heavin and Holly Hutcheson dissenting.

The motion was made by Secretary Dave Bombei and seconded by Vice President Angie Nichols.

“That’s what I think with the swapping these spaces and then incorporating the additional classroom, the conference room, everything,” Vice President Nichols said. “It’s going to just make the space so much more efficient in both areas because the era of the desktop computers, when we did all that, that was vital at the time, but times change. We have to continue to move forward the way the times do change if we’re going to have this innovative mindset. We need to do it all across the board if it’s going to be effective.”

Total cost for the project is $72,616; with $23,062 going to carpet, $28,971 to furniture and installation and $20,583 to construction. The project is expected to be complete before school starts this fall.

When asked if she would like to comment on her vote, Hutcheson said “not at this time.”

Heavin said, “I didn’t have a problem with the project at all, just how it was funded. There was a phase to the Lilly grant that could have been applied, and I think portions of that funding could have been tied into the Lilly grant. We could have defrayed some of the expense from the taxpayers and I wanted them to explore that option before asking the taxpayers to shoulder the cost.”

At the elementary level, students have been participating in code.org, a non-profit organization “dedicated to expanding access to computer science,” courses and the nationwide Hour of Code annual event.

The board also approved two changes to the Device Usage Guidelines and Procedures and Responsible Use policies, which can be viewed at sputnamtechnology.weebly.com.

Lastly, representatives from North Putnam Community Schools and Eminence Community Schools, just beginning the 1:1 technology transition process, have visited South Putnam to review its program.

“Schools are hearing what we’re doing here, they’re seeing the kinds of things we’re doing here, and they want to know what we’re doing,” Director Gardner said. “They’re excited about what they’re seeing. Just like we were gathering information from other people when we were walking through this process, they’re wanting to gather information from us. We’re getting this opportunity as this little school in this part of the state to actually be a leader. South Putnam is really becoming a blueprint for a lot of people on how to do certain things.”

Director Ricketts added, “I had one superintendent tell me, ‘I went to South Putnam. I want to do what they do. Everything from top to bottom.’”

In other developments:

-- Bus purchase: The board approved the purchase of a 54-seat bus with a handicap lift and a 78-seat bus for a total cost of $183,614 (after three trade-ins with $10,000 off each).

-- Claims: The board approved claims at a total of $503,298.91, an increase from last month of $63,533.40 and a decrease of $172,669.72 from the year’s average.

-- Elementary math textbook: The board approved adopting a new math textbook at the elementary schools.

-- Personnel: The board approved the following personnel report.

-- Resignations: Renata Hendrickson (middle/high school art teacher) and Haley Shawhan (math teacher)

-- Retirements: Cheryl Tomaw (middle/high school instructional assistant)

-- Hire: Brian Price (middle/high school math, special education teacher), Cassie Lehmann (ag teacher), Amanda Dorsett and Lindsay Teipen (high school office)

The new ag teacher, Cassie Lehmann, will be in addition to the current ag teacher, Amanda King.

“We are expanding our class offerings in ag for next year,” Superintendent Bruce Bernhardt said, “and will require two teachers.”

-- Students of the Month: The May Students of the Month were Brionna Thompson (2nd grade, Central Elementary), Chaz Hall (3rd grade, Fillmore Elementary), Kensley Cash (8th grade) and Johnathan Thibodeau (senior).

-- Student transfer: The board approved setting the student transfer-in date (deadline for students outside South Putnam’s district to transfer into the school system) for Sept. 15 after the state legislature voted to discontinue funding based on the second semester student attendance (ADM) count.

-- Youth Football League: The board approved the Youth Football League erecting a temporary concession stand and advised it to come back with more details on installing electric and water in the future. The stand will be on the northwest side of the Central Elementary football field, and the league will fund the project.

The next South Putnam School Board regular meeting will be June 19 at 7 p.m. in the Central Elementary music room.