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A program that provides a notebook to each Killingly High School student has come under fire by the school board. Several board members on HP HSTNN-OB0X battrery Thursday protested continued funding for the so-called “one-to-one” notebook program, which is in its third year. Students and administrators, however, said the program is a worthwhile investment. When the board is considering teacher cuts — including two high school teachers, according to HP KU531AA Superintendent William Silver’s preliminary budget — notebooks for high school students shouldn’t be high on the priority list, board member Hoween Flexer said Thursday. Flexer and board member HP HSTNN-UB69 Angela Brower said the $40,000 increase over last year’s cost cannot be justified if there’s no way to check that students aren’t using their computers for nonschool uses, they said. District doesn’t spy
Amid Flexer’s questions about notebook oversight, Silver said Thursday that the HP WD546AA battery district doesn’t put blocks on or monitor students’ notebooks unless a complaint is made. Many students are using the AT908AA notebooks, at least at home, for nonacademic purposes, said Alexis Rich, board chairwoman and mother of a high school student. Rich said she sees students use the notebooks for academic purposes “maybe 3 percent of the time.” Defunding the notebook program next year would put the program’s entire future in doubt, Silver said.
Students said it would mean a step back. Teachers rely on HP 482962-001 student computer access, 10th-grader Bryana Pilozzi said. She e-mails assignments to teachers instead of printing them out, she said. “I’ve learned a lot about using technology because of the notebooks,” Pilozzi said. Sophomore Sara Morin said, “It’s easier to type stuff instead of writing it out.” Killingly Intermediate School Principal Steven Rioux told the HP WD547AA board Thursday his daughter, a Killingly High student, works out algebra problems with her friends while using a five-way video chat on the notebook.
To sophomore Jessica Dastous, it helps level the technological playing field. “Not everyone in Killingly has their own HP 590543-001 computer, but this way no one’s disadvantaged,” she said.
Killingly High Principal Andrew Rockett said the program “fits into our vision of being a school of the future.” The district is leasing its HP 590544-001 computers in four-year cycles, which spreads out the cost, but requires increases in the first four years. “After this year, if the board continues the project, theoretically there wouldn’t be any budget-to-budget increases,” Silver said. “It would about $75,000, but the SONY VGP-BPL21 increase from year to year would be about $40,000, depending on the number of computers we need.” Of the 21 Brooklyn eighth-graders already committed to Killingly for next year, half cited the notebook program in their decision, Silver told the board Thursday. The tuition revenue from 21 Brooklyn students tops $130,000.
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