School board acts on tech needs

The Wahkiakum School District Board of Directors voted to accept a bid from Felton’s Heating and Cooling for the purchase of a cooling system for the main server room at the high school, and then heard about changes in security and technology around the district.

The bid was one of three and at $13,566.87 was nearly $2,000 less than the next lowest bid from Carlson’s Heating and Air Conditioning.

Julius A. Wendt Elementary School and John C. Thomas Middle School Principal Theresa Libby presented the board with the 1:1 Chromebook user agreement that she and Wahkiakum High School Principal Stephanie Leitz had written after looking at several different technology and Chromebook policies and user agreements from other schools and getting feedback from Superintendent Bob Garrett and Technology Director Paul Ireland.

The 1:1 program will eventually be used to assign a Chromebook to each student. Students will be responsible for the care of the Chromebook. The program will go into effect in January when some high school students get to take them home.

“The Chromebooks are a huge hit with the staff and students,” Libby said. “I was in asking for more at the monthly meeting.”

School Board Member Shawn Merz asked Ireland if there were any kind of numbers to show how many Chromebooks have needed to be replaced each year in other schools that have 1:1 programs.

“There are already cases when they are making it through a student’s four year term in high school,” Ireland said. “There is going to be breakage around the edges, but it sounds like a very high expectation that we could, out of say 100, have 90 make it through a student’s high school career.”

Some students may be motivated by the knowledge that the Chromebook they turn in at the end of one year will be the same one they receive when they return in the fall.

Garrett updated the school board on the state of the security portion of the project.

“Believe it or not, it is almost complete,” Superintendent Bob Garrett said. “They are working on the PA system at the high school now, and the panic alarm system folks should be coming soon.”

The next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, November 17, 2015 at 5:30 p.m. in the high school library.