MONROE - The Monroe school board unanimously approved Monday up to $150,000 for the purchase this summer of iPads for all incoming six-graders.
The purchase is a pilot, with the expectation that if all goes well, soon each student across grade levels will have a district-issued computer tablet to use in the classroom and at home.
Approved was a proposal to buy 180 of the Apple tablets, plus the associated support hardware and software, including laptop computers for programming, carts for charging the iPads, Apple training for staff, AppleCare+ insurance and covers to protect the devices.
The estimated cost for the plan is currently about $140,000, or about $775 per iPad when taking all the associated costs into account.
Some outside funding may be available to cover the training and professional development costs, said Cory Hirsbrunner, director of curriculum and instruction for the district. She expects to know for sure within a month.
The board rejected, based on Hirsbrunner's recommendation, alternate proposals to lease iPads for two or three grade levels. Board members discussed evaluating the approved purchase for sixth-graders next January, after students and teachers have had a semester to work with the devices.
Hirsbrunner's recommendation to buy the tablets to enhance the students' learning is based on research she said she and others did in districts that already use iPads, including the Milton School District and Chicago Public Schools.
The district's policies regarding Internet-use apply to iPads, too. District policies specific to iPads will need to be developed this summer.
Each iPad will have a "military"-grade cover to protect it, said Hirsbrunner, at cost of $40 to $60 per device, depending on style.
Joe Monroe, director of pupil services, said the iPad covers are virtually indestructible in his experience with special-ed students.
"Some of our units have really been worked on by students," he said.
Some parents have expressed an interest in buying an iPad for their child, said board member Les Bieneman.
Personally owned devices are not part of the plan as it stands now, however.
"We would not allow personal devices to be synced with our account," Hirsbrunner said.
The challenge now, said board member Bob Erb, is for teachers to work quickly and creatively in developing ways to use the iPads across the curriculum.
"So much of this depends on the execution," Erb said.
Proponents of iPads for students say it helps with student organization, communication and engagement.
In other business, the board:
- Approved the resignations of support staff members Sue Becker (MHS library assistant), Melaney Kurschner (Northside Elementary special ed aide), Gene Phillips (crossing guard at Northside), and Gloria Riese (crossing guard at Abe Lincoln Accelerated Learning Academy).
n Approved the resignation of Brooke McGraw, fourth-grade teacher at Northside.
- Approved the retirement, effective June 2013, of MHS Assistant Principal Robin McLeish, who will have worked 35 years in the district.
- Approved the hiring of Elyse Radke in Abe Lincoln's special ed program, Sarah Jung to teach art at Parkside, Claire McMannes to teach kindergarten at Parkside and Curt Zastrow in the MHS special ed program.
- Accepted a donation of $500 from The Optimist Club of Monroe to defray travel expenses for the sixth-grade trip on May 23 to the Wisconsin Dells.
- Accepted a donation of $400 from Randy and Joey Schneeberger to the Monroe Middle School summer band camp, given as a memorial tribute to Joey Schneeberger's father, Joe Benkert. The donation will fund camp scholarships for students Ben Dombrowski and Nate Smith.
The purchase is a pilot, with the expectation that if all goes well, soon each student across grade levels will have a district-issued computer tablet to use in the classroom and at home.
Approved was a proposal to buy 180 of the Apple tablets, plus the associated support hardware and software, including laptop computers for programming, carts for charging the iPads, Apple training for staff, AppleCare+ insurance and covers to protect the devices.
The estimated cost for the plan is currently about $140,000, or about $775 per iPad when taking all the associated costs into account.
Some outside funding may be available to cover the training and professional development costs, said Cory Hirsbrunner, director of curriculum and instruction for the district. She expects to know for sure within a month.
The board rejected, based on Hirsbrunner's recommendation, alternate proposals to lease iPads for two or three grade levels. Board members discussed evaluating the approved purchase for sixth-graders next January, after students and teachers have had a semester to work with the devices.
Hirsbrunner's recommendation to buy the tablets to enhance the students' learning is based on research she said she and others did in districts that already use iPads, including the Milton School District and Chicago Public Schools.
The district's policies regarding Internet-use apply to iPads, too. District policies specific to iPads will need to be developed this summer.
Each iPad will have a "military"-grade cover to protect it, said Hirsbrunner, at cost of $40 to $60 per device, depending on style.
Joe Monroe, director of pupil services, said the iPad covers are virtually indestructible in his experience with special-ed students.
"Some of our units have really been worked on by students," he said.
Some parents have expressed an interest in buying an iPad for their child, said board member Les Bieneman.
Personally owned devices are not part of the plan as it stands now, however.
"We would not allow personal devices to be synced with our account," Hirsbrunner said.
The challenge now, said board member Bob Erb, is for teachers to work quickly and creatively in developing ways to use the iPads across the curriculum.
"So much of this depends on the execution," Erb said.
Proponents of iPads for students say it helps with student organization, communication and engagement.
In other business, the board:
- Approved the resignations of support staff members Sue Becker (MHS library assistant), Melaney Kurschner (Northside Elementary special ed aide), Gene Phillips (crossing guard at Northside), and Gloria Riese (crossing guard at Abe Lincoln Accelerated Learning Academy).
n Approved the resignation of Brooke McGraw, fourth-grade teacher at Northside.
- Approved the retirement, effective June 2013, of MHS Assistant Principal Robin McLeish, who will have worked 35 years in the district.
- Approved the hiring of Elyse Radke in Abe Lincoln's special ed program, Sarah Jung to teach art at Parkside, Claire McMannes to teach kindergarten at Parkside and Curt Zastrow in the MHS special ed program.
- Accepted a donation of $500 from The Optimist Club of Monroe to defray travel expenses for the sixth-grade trip on May 23 to the Wisconsin Dells.
- Accepted a donation of $400 from Randy and Joey Schneeberger to the Monroe Middle School summer band camp, given as a memorial tribute to Joey Schneeberger's father, Joe Benkert. The donation will fund camp scholarships for students Ben Dombrowski and Nate Smith.