McCook school board approves purchase of iPads

McCOOK, Nebraska -- By 5 to 1, The McCook School Board of Education voted to approve the purchase of 510 Apple iPads for high school students, at $244,290, with one board member questioning why funds weren't set aside in the budget for the purchase.

Joel Bednar, technology director at McCook Public Schools, gave a presentation to the board Monday night at the regular school board meeting about the implementation of the device for high school students next year. Bednar said the purchase and implementation of the iPads would provide instant feedback for students and teachers, increase student engagement and create a level playing field for all students. Students would take the device home and also use it in the classroom. Students without Internet access could access WiFi at the school, public library and other locations in the city.

The district has been in the process of upgrading its system, he said, including the plan to use the free mobile device management, Meraki. This system controls and monitors the iPads and can also install applications automatically to all the devices.

Responding to a question by board member Diane Lyons, as why iPads rather than other devices, Bednar said laptops do not last as long, require more maintenance and cost more. Lyons asked about the ChromeBook, which Bednar described as "very tempting," but was told by the Nebraska Department of Education that state assessments were not available at that time on the device.

Currently, all teachers in the district have an iPad and there are also iPads available for students in classrooms, for a total of about 200 in the district.

An "iPad bootcamp" is being planned in July for both parents and students attending high school, as to policies and procedures concerning the use of the devices.

After the presentation, Shane Messersmith, the lone board member who voted against the purchase, said that he wasn't against buying the iPads, but concerned that funds had not been set aside for the purchase, at nearly quarter of a million dollars. Messersmith said in the past, money had been allocated in the budget to fund other major purchases or improvements in the district, such as the $1.2 million for heating/air conditioning at the high school, $82,000 to purchase the armory and other investments.

He made the motion to table the purchase Monday night, with Diane Lyons seconding it for discussion. Messersmith said the board first heard of implementing iPads in November, then the purchase price at Monday's meeting and wanted more time to take the item to the finance and policy committee for further discussion.

Messersmith said he was concerned that the funds would be taken from three separate budgets within the school district's budget to pay for the purchase -- $50,000 from the curriculum budget, $50,000 from the technology budget and $20,000 from the building budget, for two years -- near the end of the budget cycle and wouldn't know how it would affect the budget overall.

"It would be robbing Peter to pay Paul," he said and not fiscally responsible.

Board vice president Sandy Krysl said she understood Messersmith's concerns and although the board may not know how each individual budget is spent, the board does approve the budget each year so there is money in those departments.

"Just because we didn't have it in our strategic planning, doesn't mean it wasn't in theirs," Krysl said. Superintendent Grant Norgaard echoed that later in the meeting and said they would not have gone forward with the plan if departments didn't think they could afford it.

Krysl added that It would be a waste of time to take the matter into the policy committee, if the board does not give approval for the purchase.

Other board members also weighed in. Board president Tom Bredvick said the implementation of iPads has been in the planning stages for three years, with staff training and upgrades in the system. Timing is of the essence, he said, and to table the purchase would mean delayed opportunities for teaching and administration.

"I'm as cheap as they come," Bredvick said, but administration would not have put the purchase before the board if it were not in the best interest of students.

Teresa Thomas, board secretary, asked curriculum director Kate Repass, who is also Central Elementary principal, and Jerry Smith, high school principal, if the curriculum or building budgets would suffer because of the purchase. Both replied it would not adversely affect those budgets.

Diane Lyons said the $244,290 was a major purchase and she wanted to be sure the implementation of the iPads would succeed. This was the first time the board heard the cost of the program and "to have our questions answered is not a bad thing," she said, via the programs, policy and finance committees. Lyons said she trusts the administrators too, but also has to answer to the taxpayers.

Board member Loretta Hauxwell said she, members of the administration and two other board members discussed the purchase in an prior policy committee and clarified that driving the decision was policy and not the purchase. Although it's a large purchase, Hauxwell said she trusted the leadership and teachers and that the purchase would directly help student learning.

It was in the best interest of the kids to put the devices in front of them sooner rather than later, Bredvick said and didn't want to delay the process by tabling the item.

The motion to table the item failed by 2 to 4, with Messersmith and Lyons voting yes and Krysl, Bredvick, Thomas and Hauxwell voting against it.

Bredvick then made the motion to approve the purchase of iPads for the 2014-15 school years, with Krysl seconding it. A brief discussion followed, prompted by a question from Hauxwell on a timeframe for creating policy for students using the iPads. Superintendent Norgaard said a policy creation committee could be developed using administration staff, the technology department and other sources. The motion to purchase the iPads was approved, with Bredvick, Krysl, Lyons, Hauxwell and Thomas voting for it and Messersmith against it.