Decatur School adopts plan for new technology

— Decatur school board members passed a three-year technology plan at a special meeting last Wednesday that will include a 90 percent savings on communication services.

Brandon McBride, the district’s new technology coordinator, presented the plan to the board for approval before it had to be submitted to the Arkansas Department of Education on March 1. McBride started work over Christmas break and had only two months to create the plan, superintendent Larry Ben explained.

The 65-page document outlines everything from an assessment of the school’s current technology to the district’s needs, future goals and year-byyear budgets. The budgets proposed in the plan are not binding, Ben said.

The plan gives the district’s mission statement as, “It is our mission to provide students and staff with knowledge and understanding of emerging technologies so that they become lifelong learners and are able to adapt to technological changes and functions in an informational society.”

McBride told the school board members that he gave every staff member a survey about which technology items they would like to see available to students and what training they needed. McBride said he then formed a technology committee to vote on which items they felt would be most beneficial to the school.

Items on the district’s list of needs included audio/ video equipment in the library, more computers for students to utilize, new servers and more bandwidth, as well as teacher training in various computer programs.

The district currently has a Smart Board, computer and document camera in every classroom, but teachers need more training to use those items to their full potential, Mc-Bride said.

The technology plan proposes a budget, but it does not obligate the district in any way, Ben said. According to the budget technology costs, including McBride’s salary, will be $128,726 for the 2012-2013 school year, $88,110 for the 2013-2014 school year, and $101,410 for the 2014-2015 school year. Costs are higher the first year because all the computers in the high school business office must be replaced every five years, according to state requirements.

Ninety percent savings

Because more than 80 percent of Decatur students qualify for free and reduced lunches, the district qualifies for a 90 percent discount on all their communications services from E-Rate, Mc-Bride said.

E-Rate is a program through the Federal Communications Commission that allows schools and libraries to apply for discounted communication services. The district will be able to get services such as telephone - both long distance and local - cell phone service, Internet, website hosting and email, as well as purchasing qualifying items such as servers.

For example, Decatur currently gets Internet service from Cox Communication, with a bandwidth of 1.5 megabits. The school will now be able to afford 50 megabits of bandwidth at an e-rate discounted cost of $49 per month, instead of the retail cost of $497, McBride said.

School board members Darleen Holly, Ike Owens and Aaron Owens voted to approve the plan. Board members Kevin Smith and Justin Thompson were not present.

News, Pages 3 on 03/07/2012