Published: September 12, 2009 11:28 pm      

One-to-one future uncertain at Greater Clark

$300,000 state grant can only be used for laptop initiative

Nearly a year after the Greater Clark County Schools board first brought up the one-to-one laptop initiative, the deal may fall through for the middle-school portion of the pilot program just days after the school board approved it.

The night the board voted in favor of an interlocal agreement with the city of Charlestown — which outlines how it will be funded, including using $84,000 from the city — the city council decided to table the same agreement.

The funding will be reconsidered by the council at a Monday meeting.

If that doesn’t pass, Greater Clark would not receive a $300,000 grant from the Indiana Department of Education it was counting on to fund half of the costs to buy enough laptops for the seventh- and eighth-graders, as well as some for sixth-graders to share during the day.

Seventh- and eighth-graders would be able to take laptops home with them in the evenings.“The $300,000 grant was conditional on Greater Clark raising the other necessary funds for the proposed project. The $300,000 grant is specific to the proposed project,” said Cam Savage, director of communications for the Indiana Department of Education.

In addition to that grant and the money from the city, Greater Clark was planning on using $70,000 a year for the next three years in funds set aside for professional development and technology to finish paying for the nearly $600,000 program.

Christina Gilkey, GCCS board vice president, said if the money doesn’t come through from the city, she thinks it will change the district’s deal, adding that the school board would have to vote again on the issue.

“I will [vote for it] no matter what. I voted for it the last three times,” Gilkey said. “I feel like if you want something bad enough, you can go out and raise the money.”

“I think it will change some votes of other folks on the board.”

The board had been given a letter from Charlestown Mayor Bob Hall before members voted Tuesday, saying in part, “We are committed to doing our part to ensure that this important program is implemented at Charlestown Middle School this school year. To that end, the city of Charlestown will commit $28,000 over each of the next three years to fund the new one-to-one initiative at the middle school.”

Supporters of the program have cited improved student engagement, graduation rates and attendance as reasons to implement the one-to-one initiative.

Misty Chase, who works with a similar program in Greene County, N.C., said earlier this year that teenage pregnancy rates have even dropped for her school system, which implemented the program in 2002. Chase said she asked the students why they think pregnancies have dropped and they said, “it’s because now they have something better to do.”



EXERCISING CAUTION

Board member Becka Christensen said she was shocked Charlestown tabled the issue. However, she said the fact that the council was voting on it the same night as the school board was another reason why she voted against the agreement.

“In my opinion, you couldn’t move forward until you knew how you were going to pay for it. We needed to know Charlestown was paying first,” she said. “Now what? Do you take the seventh-graders out?”

GCCS board member Bob McEwen — who also is redevelopment director for Charlestown — said he understands the council putting its vote on hold to take more time to review everything.

“A lot of this happened pretty quickly,” McEwen said. “We [the school board] got our answers [at the meeting]. We had a little bit more time.

“[Plus,] we’re dealing with the city on a couple other issues, so I understand them wanting to take their time to do their due diligence with it.”



LAND STRUGGLE

One of those other issues deals with a land swap between Charlestown and Greater Clark.

“I’ve got serious issues funding a [school] corporation we’re getting ready to sue,” said Mark Goodlett, council president.

Goodlett also expressed those concerns at the council meeting last week.

“I’m not saying I’m against this one-to-one initiative, but we’re suing the school corporation over a [swimming] pool of ours that they destroyed, and yet I’m looking at a resolution in front of me authorizing $28,000 a year for the next three years and we can’t even to get them to agree to this,” Goodlett said previously.

The terms of a land swap involved the city giving up its swimming pool for a parking lot adjacent to the new high school building and two other small parcels of land. The city was offered property near Jonathan Jennings Elementary School, according to previous reports.



FEELING OPTIMISTIC

Hall said he does not believe the pre-existing problems between Charlestown and Greater Clark will create a stalemate in funding the one-to-one initiative, which has already been funded for Charlestown High School. Students there are expected to get computers in October.

“I think the council is mature enough to separate the two [issues],” he said. “This is about the kids, not the land swap.”

Greater Clark Superintendent Stephen Daeschner is sure that the council will pass the agreement.

“I still think they’ll do it. I have no doubts in my mind,” Daeschner said. “I think they were [being] cautious.”

However, if they don’t, what will happen isn’t known.

“We won’t sign the contract with Apple [for the computers]. I don’t know what I’d do,” Daeschner said, referring to whether he’d bring back a recommendation to approve the pilot program in the middle school.



see LAPTOPS, page A4