Montgomery school superintendent pushes proposal but some on the board raise concerns.
By: Kara Fitzpatrick
MONTGOMERY Making an all-out effort to demonstrate the need for improving technology in the district’s schools, Superintendent Stuart Schnur led a presentation Tuesday about the benefits, options and costs of expanding the number of laptops at the new Montgomery High School.
But even after the three-hour presentation, board members and residents continued to voice mixed feelings about the proposed one-to-one initiative, which is supported by the superintendent.
The one-to-one initiative would provide each high school student and teacher with a personal laptop computer.
During the presentation, district Technology Director Gail Palumbo presented four options for supplying the new high school with computers.
The first option, a replication of the existing setup at the high school, provides each regular classroom with five student laptop computers and one teacher laptop station. The estimated cost, factoring in a one-year warranty, is roughly $640,000 over a four-year lease period. That cost increases with a lengthened warranty.
The second option, the one-to-one laptop initiative, has a price tag of approximately $2.1 million over a four-year lease period with a one-year warranty.
Third and fourth options provide each classroom with a teacher station and two desktops as well as a laptop cart shared among two or four classrooms, at a price of $1.6 million and $1.1 million, respectively, with a lease period and warranty similar to the other options.
Board member Andrea Bradley said she was "trying to figure out how we can rationalize the expense" of 1,750 computers the number needed to carry out the one-to-one model. Ms. Bradley added that she was not confident teachers were going to have the time to incorporate the laptops into every lesson.
Dr. Schnur said the first option, which would equip the school with approximately 700 laptops, would not be sufficient. "I fervently believe that it is not appropriate for where we want to take our students," he said.
The new high school is slated to open next school year and has been designed to provide a wireless connection to all computers.
"In my heart, I would love to see the one-to-one," said Dr. Schnur, adding that realistically, financial restrictions could prevent that from happening.
Board member Susan Carter said she believed the computers would become an "open window" for students to access the Internet and would take control out of the hands of parents.
James Logothetis, countering Ms. Carter, said, "I don’t think we take enough time and effort to give our kids increased responsibility," adding that as seniors, most students would soon be on their own, away from the supervision of parents and school administrators.
Other administrators and teachers pushed for the one-to-one laptop initiative, saying the computers would make interaction with students more fluid, increase versatility of lesson plans and provide a constant information resource.
Christopher Manno, district director of curriculum and instruction, said the one-to-one initiative would make instruction "more seamless" because of time not spent distributing and collecting computers. "It adds a level of classroom management," he said.
But Kenny Wilson, a Montgomery Middle School math teacher, said he feared if each student possessed a laptop, there would be indirect pressure to use technology when it may not apply. "I don’t want to put a square peg in a round hole," said Mr. Wilson.
Resident Chip Rosenthal said the level of excitement about the one-to-one model impressed him. "I would hope you would go ahead full force with this," he said.
But resident Bob Meola said, based on the presentation, he was not convinced. "I think the real point is, we do not see a fully laid-out plan" on how to successfully implement the technology, said Mr. Meola.
The board is scheduled to vote on the issue next month.

