Harbor Springs official makes technology presentation
by Peter Jakey-Managing Editor
What to do about the latest budget shortfall is the biggest issue facing Onaway Area Community Schools.
The board of education is considering more tough cuts to staff before the start of the 2013-14 school year, including the layoffs of guidance counselor Michael Franklin and librarian B.J. Kemme.
The board and administrative staff are considering the best options to minimize the impact on students and staff.
In the meantime, the board is keeping an eye on the future regarding technology.
Mike Moreau, one of the newest board members, recently suggested the board conduct an in-depth look at what needs to be done to improve technology, as well as the need for the formation of an extended plan.
Board president Sharon Lyon said, “we are dipping our toe in.”
A major budget cut in the media center has put any technology matters on the back burner, but board members still took time to listen to a nearly hour-long presentation from Harbor Springs Schools technology director Chris Nelson to see what they have been doing to improve technology since 2010, and the reasons for their successes.
“There was a technology committee in place, but it really wasn’t a functional committee,” said Nelson, when the process got started. “These are the problems at this building, these are the problems at that building. What we did was put together a stakeholder group from each of our different buildings.”
Harbor Springs has two elementary schools, a middle school and high school.
“We configured that technology committee, it was going to be our core communication mechanism with all of our buildings,” said Nelson, who chaired the group. “The next thing we wanted to do was determine what we wanted to accomplish as a group. Did we want to just get stuff? Did we actually want to see what other districts and the different colleges are using, and what different businesses are using.”
The committee prioritized a bullet list, “set everything down and decided what we want to accomplish. After our students are done with 12th grade, what do we want our students to be able to do? Do we just want to focus on the kids that are going to college? We wanted to have those 12th grades ready for everything.”
The committee also decided the scope of the improvements should include all students, from kindergarten on.
“The next question was, how do we do this from a financial standpoint? There was no way everything we needed to do could come from the general fund. If we did it out of our general fund, it was going to be a long and trying process. Otherwise, we had to look for alternative funding.”
Nelson said the first step was to see what the costs would be for a 10-year plan.
There are a lot of districts out there that have X number of dollars, and we can buy X amount of devices and go. They go and buy a bunch of stuff and they give it to teachers, and they give it to kids. They don?t really have a plan, they just do it. That is one of the biggest mistakes that anybody can make.
The committee formulated a 10-year plan with the understanding that “technology changes every two days.”
A positive moving forward was other districts in the area were passing technology bonds and Harbor Springs officials were being asked, “ ‘why aren’t you guys doing it?’ ”
The reason, “We wanted to have a good plan before we went down that route.”
Committee members attended township meetings to present information and answer questions. “We really went out to that voter base and communicated why we wanted to do, what we were doing. That was a key part in this entire plan.” They also visited other districts to see what worked for them, and what did not.
“We not only communicated with districts, but we went to Central Michigan University, Northern Michigan University, Michigan Tech, U of M, Michigan State,” he said. “We talked to the colleges that our kids go to, to find out what they using in these different areas
Nelson discussed the best equipment, while keeping advancements in mind.
“What kind of resistance did you run into?” asked Moreau.
“Some people asked, ‘why do you need X number of dollars? I can go buy a laptop for $500. Why do you need $3.9 million? A lot of people don’t understand the infrastructure piece, that is essential,” said Nelson.
He was thanked for providing the information. Nelson said he could be contacted through Moreau or OACS technology coordinator Barry Fitzpatrick if there are any more questions.