Ladue School Board Discusses Laptop Initiative

Students at Ladue Horton Watkins High School would get a laptop under a proposal discussed Monday at a Ladue Board of Education work session.

Rob Highfill, who serves as Ladue School District's Director of Information Technology Services, gave a presentation to the board dubbed the “21^st Century Learning Initiative.” At the heart of the plan is providing every high school student in the district with a laptop by the 2012-2013 school year, which he said could result anywhere from a $100,000 to $165,000 a year increase in the yearly capital budget.

Highfill said the initiative could provide students with expanded and constantly updated information. He also said laptops would provide students with access to technology resources at all times.

“So we’ve got a year to decide what the actual resource will look like,” Highfill said. “It may be a laptop. It’s possible that it may be a tablet. So when we talk about funding, that’s one thing to consider as well that those tablets are about half the cost of a laptop.”

The proposal garnered a mixed reaction from the board, which is mulling sending a tax levy to the voters next April to stem off further budget cuts.

Board Member Audrey Mack, for instance, said she nearly “fell out of her chair laughing” when she first heard a proposal a few years ago to give laptops to every student. But she said she’s come around to the idea and added it could provide numerous benefits.

“I really do believe that this is such a wonderful opportunity for all of our children,” Mack said. “So while I’m reminiscing in the past, my understanding is that back in 1980s the Ladue School District was known for their technology, and that we were cutting edge and we were out on the forefront. And I really do not think that is the case anymore.”

“Omaha, Nebraska supported this with a tax levy,” Mack added. “And surely if Omaha can do it, Ladue can do it.”

Board Member Andy Bresler said he didn’t think the plan would necessarily require a tax levy, adding that the cost would represent one-fifth of 1 percent of the district’s budget.

“You look at the magnitude that this could have on our own district versus eliminating the least important $120,000 out of a $50 million budget that we’re spending, I don’t have your expertise but it’s hard to imagine that it’s not justified,” Bresler said.

One concern Board Member Jeff Kopolow expressed at the meeting regarded what he said were “hidden costs” of the proposal. That, he said, included insurance, lost computers or damaged devices. Highfill said one way to address that concern was having parents pay a “low cost” insurance policy.

Board Member Stacy Washington said the idea could bring the district “back to forefront.” But she said she questioned whether the proposal should be brought forward “right at this moment where we’re currently preparing to go to the voters and ask them for a tax levy.”

“[We need to] explain every bit of hidden cost, every little bit of how the teacher training is going to progress and how we’re going to go forward in a very logical, methodical manner, so that we don’t torpedo our tax levy by saying ‘we’re also doing this one-to-one initiative,’” Washington said, referring to a shorthand name for the proposal.  “I don’t think there’s anybody in this room that doesn’t know we have a sizable constituency in this district where they hear the words ‘one-to-one’ and they begin to foam at the mouth and they fall into the street and they go into convulsions.”

“What we should do – and I’m just speaking for myself – I see this as something we cannot afford to let go,” Washington added. “We have to move forward with it … I’m not sure if this is something we should do in 2012-2013 unless we have linked it together with our tax levy in some way or say we’re going to do it afterwards.”

And while Board Member Ken Smith said he too was a believer in technology in the classroom, he added that “if we go and tell the public that we need money to go do this, this and this to balance our budget and we’re going to have a one-to-one computer initiative, they’re just going to laugh at our face and vote it down.”

“So I think you’re just crazy for bringing it up right now,” Smith said. “If you want to do this, then you should education people, you should put it forward. But I don’t think that you can do that by April. And we have to have a tax levy in April – otherwise we’re going to have more serious budget problems. So bringing this up now is just shooting yourself in the foot.”

Smith told Highfill that he should make the proposal a “technology bond issue,” He said if this is done when the board needs to balance its budget, the result will be “torpedoing” the tax increase.

In response to the comments of some of the board members, Mack said she “completely disagrees on the tax levy and this initiative.”

“Because I think going out for this tax levy is an opportune time to say to our community ‘what kind of district do we want to be?’” Mack said. “Do we want to be an 80s technology district? Do we want to be a district that has 30 kids in the classroom and Westminster sitting there shut down? I don’t see any reason why we cannot combine all of this.”

In addition to the laptop discussion, the board also heard details of cuts to administrative salaries. Click here to see a staff reduction summary and click here and here to get more detailed documents on administrative cuts.