Principals Have Eye on New Tech

School principals in the are hoping to spend up to about $175,000 on expanding classroom technology, in ways they say have already helped students.

But Dr. Ernest Palestis, the district superintendent, said no spending decisions have yet been made, and the district won't be able to fund every purchase the principals are eying. He said within the next few months, officials will make more decisions on which purchases are possible.

"Based on staff input, [the principals] are trying to put together a direction for us so that as we move forward looking at adding technology to the district, that we are doing so in a way that involves teachers," Palestis said.

Lindsay Nahm, the principal of , and Sean Dolan, the principal of , approached the board of education earlier this month.

They said they'd like to see the district purchase more smart boards—interactive boards that take the place of more traditional whiteboards or chalkboards. The district currently has 12.

Palestis said the principals noted students can manipulate the contents of the screens, which are even made to work with certain textbooks. School officials are hoping to add 25 more boards for next year, at an approximate cost of $101,000. Dolan and Nahm found the Smart Board and Promethean-brand boards were helping students the most.

The principals also told the school board they'd like to see more laptop computers, FM Loops, and image projection devices.

Both schools in the district already use some laptops, mainly for student use. Palestis said officials are considering adding 56 more laptops, at a cost of $50,400.

FM Loops systems include classroom speakers that amplify the voices of teachers and students.

"The advantage is that all of the students in the classroom would have the ability to focus and hear everything the teacher says," Palestis said. 

He said research shows that students don't hear 100 percent of what teachers say, so adding this technology would be significant. He said it also helps students who have difficultly focusing.

The district does not have FM Loops devices in place, but if it added 15, it would cost $20,250.

Image projection devices, Palestis said, allow student to put textbook pages and student work samples up on the wall.  Sixteen of these devices would cost the district $13,520.