Tech initiative going well at Royal Valley

Six weeks after implementing a new district wide technology initiative that included purchasing Chromebook laptops for USD 337 middle and high school students, things are going “very well,” according to Mark Haefke, RV technology coordinator.

Haefke gave an update on the initiative Monday evening during the board of education’s meeting in Mayetta.

At the start of the second semester, high school students were each assigned a Chromebook to use for educational purposes if they and their parents signed and returned a policy form to the school.

 “Very few students did not return a form, and we have a couple of high school students who check their Chromebooks in and out each day at the school instead of taking them home each night at their parents’ request,” Haefke said.

The Google Chromebook utilizes software from the Internet instead of a hard drive. The machine runs on Google’s Chrome operating system and all information is continually saved on “the cloud” as students work on projects.

“At the high school level, I see them use it all the time,” Haefke said. “Google classroom is incredible. It’s a complete setup that allows teachers to create a class, share documents and schedule due dates for projects. It’s been wonderful.”

With any new piece of technology, there is a learning curve.

“We had three broken screens within the first two weeks, and we haven’t had any problems since,” he said. “I think the students realized how careful they need to be of these machines.”

If there is a software issue with the Chromebooks, Haefke said he can simply reboot the machine and “nine times out of 10 that fixes the problem.”

At the middle school, seventh- and eighth-grade students have each been assigned a Chromebook that they check out and return daily at the school. Students do not leave school grounds with them.

Haefke said that the school hosted a “pep rally” when the Chromebooks arrived.  

The district has a list of applications, or “apps”, that are approved for the devices, Haefke said.

“We are always checking out new apps like one that can record practice time with band instruments and then be submitted to John  Nottingham (band director),” he said.

Additional iPads have also be purchased and distributed at the elementary school.

“The teachers usually have about six or eight per room and then they are charged overnight,” he said. “They use them quite a bit and share them with each other.”

Haefke said that the district has 50 megabytes of bandwidth, and that the devices are hitting 40 megabytes or more each day.

“Most days, things are pretty manageable,” Haefke said. “We’re not completely maxing out.”

Superintendent John Rundle said that Haefke has the control to “push out” more bandwidth to certain devices or schools that need it more, such as during state testing.

Board members Ann Kelly and Jeff Stithem questioned whether putting Internet access on school buses is a large expense, noting that many students traveling to and from evening activities can’t work on their homework on the bus since they don’t have Internet access.

Jeff Gustin, transportation director, said that there are several districts in western Kansas, where bus routes can take up to two hours, that have equipped their buses with Internet. 

“It runs through the phone lines,” Gustin said. “You almost have to equip your buses like an airplane with the tray tables.”

Gustin said he could look into the cost of equipping some of the buses with wireless Internet if school board members are interested.

 With the new tech purchases, the district has 135 “third generation” Macbooks to sell, and board members approved the buyback quote from Mac to School of California.

The computers will be shipped to the company and examined before their valued is determined. Rundle said the district should expect to receive $2,500 to $3,000 through the buyback program.

In other business, the board:

* Approved consent items.

* Received a legislative update from Rundle, who outlined several proposed bills regarding education. Rundle noted that SB 71 is still proposed and that bill would reduce Local Option Budget state aid to the district by about $46,000.

“That’s on top of the $62,000 we’ve already been cut this year,” Rundle said. “There’s been a lot of bills introduced, and some things will start to get serious in the next few weeks.”

* Reviewed the list of employees who have been working in the district for several years and discussed ways to recognize those employees.

* Received an update on Impact Aid funding from Rundle, who noted that the Impact Aid Task Force is meeting this week to work on its budget. 

* Approved the Kansas Association of Schools Boards policy updates as presented.

* Approved the purchase of Measures of Academic Program (MAP) testing program from the Northwest Evaluation Association of Portland, Ore. at a cost of $16,191, which would include $4,100 for training.

Susan Pfrang, director of curriculum and instruction, said that MAP is a computer adaptive testing program for all students to test their knowledge in math, reading and language.

“It’s an adaptive test,” Pfrang said. “Which means if you give a correct answer, it will give you a tougher question.”

Pfrang said that MAP will be used three times a year on all students to monitor their growth, as well as measure college and career readiness standards.

“Teachers will be able to get all the scores for their classroom to determine which students need remediation and which need to be pushed more,” Pfrang said. “It will also help teachers review and evaluate their own instruction.”

* Approved course changes at the high school for the 2015-2016 school year. Jim Holloman, RVHS principal, was at the meeting and outlined the changes.

The school offers a plant systems “pathway” for students interested in agricultural sciences, and Holloman said the state is requiring the school to add some courses and eliminate others to simplify the pathway program.

To meet the requirements, the school will not offer Horticulture II and Greenhouse Production & Management but will add Applications in Horticulture and Ag Leadership & Communications.

With the adoption of the 2013 Kansas college and career ready standards for science, the school also needs to make some course adjustments due to new state science assessments.

Holloman said that instead of requiring freshmen to take a yearlong Physical Science course, the course will now just be one semester with the addition of one semester of Earth/Space Science.

In addition, Zoology and Molecular Biology will be eliminated from the course curriculum and Physical Science II will be added. Physical Science II is a prep course for students on the college track and are planning to enroll in Chemistry and Physics, Holloman said.

* Met in executive session with Rundle and Pfrang for 30 minutes to discuss teacher salary negotiations and non-elected personnel.

Back in open session, the board approved a two-year contract renewal for administrator Jeff Gustin. The board also approved one-year contracts extensions for all other administrators. 

* Adjourned the meeting. All board members were present.

Note: The district also purchased two school buses during the meeting. Details on those purchases will be included in an article in Monday’s edition.