We continued our budget discussion in Tuesday’s meeting (this
time in the areas of technology and curriculum), and also addressed a couple
other pertinent issues. City of Melrose IT Director Jorge Pazos (who also manages
the schools) spoke to technology issues within the context of the
budget and IT as a whole.
·
What we need: 1.) a new elementary model
(that now includes one teacher computer and 3-4 student computers but needs to
be designed around student needs in classrooms for each particular year); 2.)
district-wide lab computers that include 150 elem., 90 middle, 110 high (these
could be Chromebooks on a cart – not nec. fixed; 3.) 300 classroom PC’s for
teachers; 4.) enough available computers of the correct configuration for PARCC
testing once it’s all on-line.
·
Current and future issues: 1.) we are
behind in our replacement schedule (should be every six years except for CAD
which is every three years); 2.) we meet PARCC specs for our current computers
but we don’t meet the requirement around all students having access at test-taking
time; 3.) we are an XP shop and XP is going away; 4.) elementary building
inequities and how to rectify that (HM doesn’t have enough electrical outlets,
some buildings have more/less printers, Roosevelt and Hoover installations
couldn’t be finished last summer due to budget, etc.); 5.) IT specialists will
require more and on-going training in order to stay current with changing
technology and be more efficient and effective.
·
Relevant notes to above: 1.) Mr. Pazos
recommends doing middle school installations this summer (300+ Dell Optiplex
computers @ at the state bid price of $850/computer for the budgeted $288K);
2.) Winthrop will field-pilot PARCC within the next couple of weeks which will
give us more information on how it will work and what assumptions we need to
change; 3.) thought is being put into the kinds of computers that work best in
different situations, i.e. fixed vs. tablets / Chromebooks cost less than PC’s
but need wireless and require a $35 software mgmt. fee / iPads are $500 ea. and
offer no volume discounts; 4.) a student-driven help desk would be very useful
at the high school; 5.) more educational support staff (e.g. another Visual and
Blended Learning Teacher) would allow expansion of those opportunities for
students.
·
Supt’s Comment: Technology in schools has
moved from a nice-to-have to a must-have. It is part of instructional materials
and integral to teaching and learning. The costs are significant – even light
bulbs for the Smart Boards are over $250 ea. – and the big-ticket items can no
longer be accommodated in the operating budget.
·
Mayor Dolan's Comment: Recommends that a
Capital Computer Committee be created (similar and in conjunction with Capital
Plan Committee) and that we figure out how to bond every year for $250K-$300K
of computers to take that expense from the schools and move it to the city
side.
More on the meeting in the next post!
