Board Embraces COWS: They Will Graze at Turkey Hill

The COWs were back on the agenda of the Orange Board of Education meeting on Monday under a much less embarassing light with a unanimous decision that left the Turkey Hill Father's Club members leaving with smiles on their faces.

The club members met with Supt. Tim James several times over the past month, and James researched more information about the COWs, their capabilities and sensitivities (if moved from school to school).

In the end, he proposed that the COWs stay at Turkey Hill School — where all the fund-raising efforts took place — where they will be used for a pilot program. If they prove to be as valuable as they are supposed to be, the Board will consider purchasing them for use in the other elementary schools as well.

Father's Club member Phil Kraut said he was happy with the decision.

Flashback

Just one month ago, COWs were a huge topic of conversation at the Orange Board of Education meeting with the board spending more than an hour mulling over whether or not to accept a gift from the Turkey Hill School Father’s Club.

The Father's Club raised in excess of $10,000 — much more than that — with which to purchase computers on wheels (COWs)— carts with several sturdy laptop computers for students to enhance their classroom studies.  

But longtime board member Kris Powell began a long dialogue stating, “I think that what we do for one school, we should do for all schools. You can’t give them all to Turkey Hill School … do you know what the odds are of other schools getting this? Nil, so I’m absolutely opposed to it.”

The idea of putting the COWs to use in all three schools in three-month blocks was suggested and then, Vice Chairman Keith Marquis reminded Powell that it wasn’t the board that was purchasing the COWs, but the Father's Club at Turkey Hill School.

“What we’re looking at here is to take it as a pilot program and see if it is something we want to use in the future,” Marquis said. “If it works out great at Turkey Hill we can look at having the same scenario at Peck Place and Race Brook. I don’t want to get into spending for COWs at the other schools until I know that the product is going to be used, it’s going to add some value to the schools and that everybody can benefit from it.”

Once the gift is accepted it becomes the Board’s property and they can reallocate the resources if it becomes a problem with parents in the school community.

Consiglio said she didn’t want to discourage a gift of something so valuable to the kids and perhaps encourage other PTAs and Father's Clubs from doing the same.

Father's Club representative Phil Kraut approached the table to address the issue, stating that the COWs are designed to roll through hallways and he wasn’t sure they would travel well (from school to school). “Our intent was to purchase these COWs and pilot the program to see if they are as good as they are supposed to be. They’ll work within the classrooms, help kids do research, work with SmartBoards. We would like to put them in Turkey Hill … we’re not looking for an advantage for our kids because in the end they all end up in the same bucket… (Amity Middle and High Schools). If we can start a program that will help all the kids down the road, on our dime, then I don’t understand the problem.”

Kraut said he did not know of any other district that introduced new technology to its schools all at once …  the district has to choose one place to test out the new materials, which invariably leads to hard feelings, but, if they don’t start somewhere, they will miss out on some great opportunities for the students.

“We’re not looking for an advantage, we’re looking for a start,” he said. “And if they turn out to be as wonderful as the SmartBoards were, then we’ll find some money… the parents will help raise some money.”

At the end of that meeting, Kraut left with the uncomfortable task of going to the Father's Club to ask if they would be willing to share the COWs with other schools.

The situation resulted in a barrage of comments on the Patch web site.