GOWANDA — All students at Gowanda Central School can expect to have some kind of technology device in their hands this school year following approval by the state last week of the district’s Smart Schools Plan.
Although not surprising, the approval of the district spending $243,700 for classroom technology upgrades gave school officials the go-ahead to purchase the new devices for its high school students and replacement devices for the elementary.
Once the new computers arrive, are uploaded with the school’s software and filters and given to students, each student from kindergarten through the senior class will have access to their own device.
“We could have purchase them before but if (the state) didn’t approve our Smart Schools Plan we wouldn’t get reimbursed,” said Jim Klubek, school superintendent. “Now that we know we are approved we have to front the money to pay for it but now we’re guaranteed to be reimbursed.”
The school board in January heard a presentation from Paula Troutman, director of curriculum and assessment, concerning the Smart Schools Plan following recommendations made by the district’s technology committee.
Klubek said this week that the devices purchased will be a “hybrid” tablet with a touchscreen, he said. Currently, elementary students use iPad tablets and middle school students use Chromebooks, which are Google-branded laptop devices.
The Smart Schools Plan also included taking steps toward iPad replacement at the elementary level by purchasing 120 iPads — along with 120 cases — for $55,200. That, coupled with the purchase of the new devices for high school students, totals the approved $243,700.
A board approved the plan in mid-February following 30 days of potential public comment. Klubek said no feedback was received prior to the board’s approval. The plan was then sent to the state for review.
When the plan was outlined in January, it was also expected that iPads currently used in the fifth grade will be given to elementary grades next year and will be replaced by Chromebooks to be more uniform with the middle school.
It is anticipated the devices will arrive close to the beginning of the school year, Klubek said, but how quickly the devices can be ready for student use is yet to be determined. Teachers have been informed they’ll have them in students’ hands this school year, but likely not right at the beginning.
The $243,700 approved for spending this year is part of the $1.55 million the Gowanda Central School District received through the Smart Schools Bond Act, a state initiative that authorized more than $2 billion in bonds to school districts for technology upgrades.
(Email managing editor Rich Place at rplacesp@gmail.com.)
