Smartboards
Cheshire's Board of Ed request for $1,500,000 for "smartboards" (Waterbury Rep-Am, by Lauresha Xhihani) in the schools will be discussed this week by the Council. The Council decision is whether to put the request out to referendum. My questions for the BOE (and Town Manager) will be focused on the "lifecycle cost" of the project, such as:
1) How many staff hours will be required to maintain the equipment?
2) Will this increase in hours require an increase in staff and related benefits?
3) What will be the related staff training costs?
4) What will be the annual electrical consumption?
As well, I'd like to get a sense of the support for this project among teachers. Speaking with teachers one on one, I've heard mixed reviews.
I'll probably support sending this to referendum and let the voters decide.
Any comments? I'd really like to get some feedback on the capital budget.
Tim White
Cheshire Town Council, Budget Committee
TimWhite98@yahoo.com
p.s. My "lifecycle" questions for the smartboards apply to all projects. For example, what will be the increased water consumption for the new ballfields? Will they have bathrooms? Will the bathrooms be hooked into the sewers?
UPDATE
I have to thank Superintendent Florio. I emailed him this morning (Sunday) on "lifecycle" costs and he sent me the following response this afternoon:
"Regarding SmartBoards, the added power is for the LCD projectors, not the Boards themselves. I will verify the amount of added electricty and get you an answer soon. The only other cost would be the replacement of LCD "bulbs" every 2-4 years. These cost $300-$400 each - there for the cost is approximately $35,000 per year beginning 2-3 years after the project is completed. I anticipate no staff needs and training will be provided through existing professional development funds."
And a thanks to Town Manager Milone. He also replied to me today. He's working on alternatives to the ballfields at Jarvis and Highland.
3 comments:
Smartboards sound nice, but they are not a necessity. No thaving hem does not prevent teachers from teaching or students from learning. Fact is they are a luxury at a time when folks in this town are struggling to pay bills and property tazes. Maybe in the future the expense might be justified but not now.
Tim, why dont we start with text books...my daughter goes to DODD and it seems like all the classes work off of what we called "dittos"...dont they make books anymore...its hard to study off a yrs worth of dittos
The Smartboards are another example of the Supt. wanting to waste taxpayer money on a new issue being pushed by the National Education Association. The education lobby in this country is almost worse in their political positions than the unions. All the education lobby wants is more and more and never wanting to be held responsible.
A Smartboard is not going to enhance the learning process of the kids. The teachers will not use it in a collaborative manner for lesson plans and instruction. There are several teachers who will require computer training to learn how to use it.
There has not been any justification of how other costs would be reduced, less teacher aides, less teachers, distance learning capabilities. Just ask the taxpayers for more funds because it is for the kids. Ask the kids what they think about Smartboards.
The next request will be for all new science books because Pluto was just demoted as a planet. Then we will have to pay for a new teacher training day so the science teachers can be instructed on how to deal with this chnage along with supplying counselors for the students who have been truamatized by the disinfranchisement of Pluto. When will this nonsense end?
Post a Comment