AVUHSD to purchase interactive Promethean boards

LANCASTER — Antelope Valley Union High School District will purchase interactive Promethean boards for all classrooms to support teachers and students in a blended learning environment.

The goal is to create a seamless learning environment and maintain continuity of learning for all students.

The interactive panels will support a blended learning model where some students are home and others are in the classroom.

“We need to create a seamless learning environment where kids in two separate places, both in the virtual world and the physical classroom, are learning the same thing at the same time,” Greg Nehen, assistant Superintendent of Educational Services, said during a presentation.

For example, students in the classroom will see the same thing as students at home. The district supported students’ return to a blended model with an approximately $3.5 million purchase of Chromebooks.

The district will spend an amount not to exceed

$5.5 million to purchase 575 Promethean ACTIVPanels and the supporting technology, including cameras and microphones. The district plans to install the technology in all classrooms by the start of the second semester.

The district will also provide ongoing professional development for teachers to learn how to use the technology.

Antelope Valley Teachers Association President Dan Shy said the Promethean board technology has been popular with teachers since the district first adopted it about 12 years ago.

“I think this is a very forward-looking purchase because I really can’t see us ever transitioning back to a completely in-school model. I think the purchase of this with the money that was allocated was a very wise choice. I hope this happens. To put a Promethean board in every classroom really sets us apart and sets us up for success in the future,” Shy said at Monday’s meeting.

The Board voted 3-1 with member Victoria Ruffin dissenting.

“There’s newer technology that is out and I don’t know if we’ve compared. I don’t know how many, have we looked at some data to see how many of our teachers are willing to use this type of technology,” Ruffin said.

Ruffin added she read a lot of information not specific to the Antelope Valley about older teachers refusing to use new technology.

“It’s a lot of money. I don’t know if we’ve looked at projectors and the document readers as well. Do we have any feedback about that, like about how many of our teachers are on-board vs not being on-board,” Ruffin said.

Nehen said they did not survey teachers specifically about the devices.

“However, the broad majority of teachers as evidenced by Mr. Shy’s comments this evening are in support of this,” Nehen said.

Nehen added the Promethean technology has advanced dramatically since the district first adopted it in 2008.

Ruffin asked how much it will cost to maintain the boards.

Nehen said once the boards are installed they are expected to last about five or six years, similar to any technology. He added there is no ongoing fee to maintain them. Rather, the district would spend money on professional development.

“Do we have any cost of like how much is a projector and a document reader per teacher, how much would that cost?” Ruffin said.

Nehen said it would be significantly less. He noted the district has projectors in all classrooms and document readers in some classrooms.

“But they don’t provide the same opportunities for all students to engage and learn,” Nehen said.

The money to purchase the Promethean ACTIVPanels comes from the Learning Loss Mitigation fund. The District received $22 million in restricted funds to support students learning in both at-home and blended model. The money has to be spent by Dec. 30.