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NORTHBRIDGE, Mass. – The School Department’s summer purchase of 45 iPads has members of the Northbridge School Committee confused and irritated.
“Five for teacher evaluations were the only iPads we discussed buying,’’ said School Committee member Michael LeBrasseur at a meeting Tuesday night.
“If you’re going to purchase 50 iPads, there should be a plan. Was there a plan?’’ he asked.
Kadion Phillips, director of educational technology, said most of the iPads, 20 for the special education department and 20 for the Balmer After School Enrichment (BASE) program, have not yet been distributed.
“We wanted to get a good management system in place before we started deploying them,’’ Phillips said. That system will be with an Apple server, also purchased this summer. He’ll be able to remotely access each iPad and keep track of who has them.
Interim School Superintendent Nancy Spitulnik said school principals have the authority to make purchases, such as iPads.
She said the iPads for special education were needed. Many individual education programs (IEPs) now require the applications available through the technology, she said. And the technology helps to engage the after-school students at Balmer.
LeBrasseur said he understands the need for technology, but believes such purchases should be discussed by the committee.
“It doesn’t look like there was a process and I’m concerned about it, to be perfectly honest,’’ he said. That same concern was expressed by Chair Michael McGrath and member Karen Kittredge.
Spitulnik said the committee does have to have a discussion about technology. The district isn’t ready to follow the path of neighboring schools, which have adopted a one computer, one student policy, she said.
“We have not had those discussions and we need to,’’ she said.
Comments (3)
Just another example showing the School Committee has no
teeth and the School Dept is running amok. The School Dept
talks about 5 iPads to the School Committee, then goes out
and purchases 50. If all the School Committee gets a say in
is the 'big picture', then maybe they should think twice about
rubber-stamping a final budget figure that the School Dept
has shown time and again they will find ways to skirt around.
The School Dept gives them the same line every time... it's
none of the Committee's business. How many times will
they turn the other cheek? Before approving that budget,
consider the history of 'extras' the School Dept slides
through every year. Factor that in by negotiating a lower
budget. The School Dept has no courage to put everything
up front and on the table, because they know that what they
truly want each year is excessive.
I cannot agree with you more! This is so foolish. Does Mr. LeBrasseur also want to track how many pencils are purchased? You are correct, the school committee oversees a global school budget and if he is that much of a micro manager and not a big picture person, I question his judgment. Maybe iPads are still thought of as toys by some, others that are responsible adults know they are tools for competent employees to accomplish their work.
I think it is great that our district is expanding upon our technology. Clearly, a discussion regarding the direction of our technology program should occur between our school committee and superintendent to determine what our future technology expenditures should be. While I appreciate that our school committee is questioning "a plan", this appears to be a decision that impacts the day-to-day operation of our schools and some are now mandated through the IEP process. It is my understanding that the school committee is responsible for the determination of a budget and their expenditures but the day-to-day spending is the responsibility of the building principals with oversight of our superintendent. While I thank the school committee members for thinking about the "big picture", I hope that the committee continues to remember that their role is not to micro-manage the district or determine the day-to-day spending within our schools.