Technology Discussions Dominate Pleasantdale School Board Meeting

The rate of technological advancement seems to be constantly increasing, making it difficult for school districts to keep pace. The changing technological landscape was a recurring theme in Wednesday’s Board of Education meeting.

Technology Specialist John McAtee updated the board on the status of the district’s technology plan. He noted that this is the first year for the plan, which covers three years.

McAtee said the plan included several technology deployment projects for this year, including updating teacher, staff, and student computers, upgrading servers, and installing SharePoint software, which will allow remote access to district files.

“It will be wonderful,” McAtee said. “Our current SharePoint Services, which we use for tracking curricular development, is a fantastic tool.”

The plan also called for implementing the use of eReaders in the district.

“We are still conducting research in this dynamic and ever-changing part of the hardware market,” McAtee said. “We have intentionally taken a small step back.”

He said initially the district was looking at Nook or Kindle devices, but was now considering other options with more functionality.

“There are no options ruled out,” he said. “We’re not taking anything off the table.”

Board member Mark Mirabile said if something other than eReaders was being contemplated, the board should review it.

“All we truly approved in the original plan was eReaders,” he said.

Mirabile said if devices that can access the Internet are being considered, there are issues the board would need to discuss.

McAtee said office computers at the elementary school had been replaced.

“That was a long overdue upgrade,” he said. “The staff is enthusiastic.”

McAtee said student laptops at the middle school also were replaced and upgraded.

Another technological upgrade involves the district’s Skyward software program, McAtee said.

“We have opened up the family access at the ” he said. “I’m pleased to say it’s working really well.”

He said family access for the elementary should be ready for use no later than the first day of the third quarter.

Elementary and middle school improvement plans unveiled

Technological innovations also featured prominently in the presentation of the elementary and middle school improvement plans for 2011-2012 offered by the principals for each school, with Skyward again discussed.

“We really feel this is going to be a great tool for communication,” Elementary Principal Matt Vandercar said. “This is going to make a big difference in parents knowing what their child is doing in school.”

Middle School Principal Meg Pokorny noted that one of the goals for that school this year is ensuring that the extra information Skyward provides parents and students is understood and motivates students to learn more.

Vandercar said the Action Math program at the elementary school again would be a priority this year and talked about the success of the program last year for students who need additional help with mathematics.

“We’re really hoping that by the time the kids get to fourth grade we don’t have many [still in the program] or zero,” he said.

Pokorny said one of the goals for the middle school this year will be making sure scores on standardized tests continue to improve.

Board reviews electronic board communication rules

Board President Leandra Sedlack led a discussion of the proper use of email by board members, particularly as it relates to the Open Meetings Act. Without getting into specifics, she said she was directing the board’s attention to the topic as the result of an email she received from another board member prior to a meeting a couple months ago, which she said included opinions.

“It was my decision not to pass them on [to all board members],” Sedlack said, “and yet they were disseminated by an individual board member.”

Sedlack did not name the board member in question, but it soon became clear it was Gina Scaletta-Nelson, who defended her action, saying she did not feel it was a violation of board policy.

“If I’m referring to our Bible, so to speak, you can’t really fault me,” she said. “Before I sent it out, I called the attorney general’s office. … I talked to John Schmidt. I said, ‘I want to make sure I am doing the right thing. I don’t want to be in any violation of any meetings act or anything like that. This is what I intend to do.’ He listened to me and he said, ‘That is fine as long as you’re pushing out [information] and it’s not a discussion.’”

Also at issue was an email sent by a board member advising that she would be unable to attend a meeting. Again, Sedlack did not identify the board member by name, but Karen O’Halloran volunteered it was her.

O’Halloran took exception to the open discussion of the emails.

“I feel like this is the public spanking session,” she said.

She reiterated her concerns later during a board discussion of amendments to board protocols, successfully arguing against censure of board members in public meetings.

Superintendent outlines residency check procedures

Following up on a board request from last month’s meeting, Superintendent Dr. Mark Fredisdorf provided board members with a list of procedures district administrators follow when they receive a report of students attending classes who are not district residents.

All of the specific steps were not announced to the public, though board members discussed several before approving them substantially as presented by Fredisdorf, making only minor changes.