SAD 1 putting plan in place for laptops

PRESQUE ISLE – Despite a decision by state legislators not to fund an expansion of the middle school laptop initiative this year, SAD 1 officials are working to expand the program locally.

The district plans to outfit its entire high school faculty and incoming ninth-graders with 225 Apple iBooks and related equipment pending federal and state funding approval, Superintendent Gehrig Johnson said Thursday.

The $93,000 plan was approved last week by the SAD 1 board.

The district’s reasoning, Johnson explained, was simple.

“These students are scheduled not to have laptops next year after having them through their middle school years,” he said. “The district decided to see whether they could make this [expansion] happen on their own.”

The district, which is seeking a way to fund the project without hurting the local budget, already has garnered two grants: one for $15,000, the other for $30,000.

The district is seeking two more grants. One of those would be $25,000 from the state’s Revolving Renovation Fund to rewire Presque Isle High School. Education Commissioner Susan Gendron has made money available through that fund for school districts to install wireless networks, Johnson said.

SAD 1 also plans to take advantage of a low-rate rental agreement with Apple Computer Inc. The company has agreed to rent no fewer than 8,400 laptops to Maine schools at $300 per machine per year. If the minimum level is reached, the computers could be at the schools by October.

District officials anticipate this to be the only year they will have to cover the cost of the program. Officials expect that the laptop program eventually will be funded under a new Department of Education funding method once it kicks in during the 2005-06 school year. The new funding method was created to ensure that all students have the resources to achieve the state’s academic standards.

If SAD 1 receives enough money to cover its approved plan, officials expect rewiring to begin in August and for students to receive their laptops after harvest break.

In a related matter, the SAD 1 board reviewed a recommendation from the superintendent concerning a laptop take-home policy for middle-schoolers. Since the program began in the area in 2003, students have not been allowed to take the computers home. Johnson said the district took a conservative approach so as to avoid equipment damage and misuse.

“We feel that now we’re at a point where we’re ready to have them go home with students with some restrictions,” he said.

The board gave Johnson approval to move forward on creating the policy. He is expected to report on his progress at the board’s August meeting.

In other matters, the board:

. Received an update on the middle school building project. Contractors broke ground last week at Skyway Middle School, which is being renovated and expanded. The $5.3 million project, which will create a facility to hold all sixth- through eighth-graders in the district, is slated for completion by the start of the 2005-06 school year. After rainy weather subsided, site work got under way, Johnson said.

Steel for the project has arrived and officials have ordered windows for the project. The superintendent said that the $100,000 asbestos abatement project to remove floor tiles from the existing building is complete.

. Received two resignations. Verona Martin resigned from an eighth-grade math position at Cunningham. Joan Tweedie resigned from a district school nurse position.

. Approved an increase to prices in the school lunch program. Johnson said the increase was the district’s first in five years and was recommended after the district conducted a survey of lunch prices at surrounding school districts. The board approved a 20 cent increase to elementary lunches, which now will cost $1.45; 20 cent increase to secondary lunches, to $1.65; 10 cent increase to all breakfasts, to $.95; and a 5 cent increase to milk, to $.45.

. Reviewed the volunteer hours given to the school district during the 2003-04 school year. Parents and other residents donated 10,133 hours of service to SAD 1 – the sixth year in a row that the district has received more than 10,000 volunteer hours.