District To Purchase More Chromebooks

PRAIRIE GROVE — Prairie Grove School Board last week approved a request from the district’s technology director to purchase 500 Chromebooks for about $119,000 for the 2020-21 school year, though the school will not receive the devices until mid to late September.

“You have to get on a back-order list to get Chromebooks,” Shawn Witt told board members during their Aug. 18 meeting. He received bids from three vendors and said he was trying to find the vendor with the earliest delivery date at the best price.

STS Education submitted the best bid to fit his criteria. The highest bid was $178,000. The district will use a combination of federal CARES Act money and funds from the technology budget to pay for the Chromebooks. CARES stands for Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security and is money approved by the U.S. Congress to help with costs related to covid-19.

Witt has talked about problems ordering and purchasing Chromebooks because of the effects of the pandemic at the past couple of board meetings.

He said he received a call from one vendor who said 1,000 Chromebooks were available.

“I about fell out of my chair,” Witt said. The person then called back and apologized, saying, “We can’t find those.”

Witt’s main concern, he said, is getting electronic devices into “every hand” of the district’s students.

“My big word of the month is back order because every vendor I talk to, that’s all I hear,” Witt said.

Prairie Grove has about 2,050 students enrolled and the district has 1,400 devices to give to students. Many of the devices are six to seven years old and considered worn out, he said.

“So we’re running in a deficit there,” Witt said.

He had good news that 180 Chromebooks have been shipped but they will not arrive until school has already started.

To help make up the deficit, Witt said the district decided to ask

students to return their Chromebooks from last year so the devices can be cleaned and repairs made. Some have been returned. Others are still out.

To help the high school engineering classes, the technology department installed new software on 80 older laptops because those students need better computers to run the engineering software. That seems to be working well, Witt said, noting it would have been expensive to purchase new laptops for that class.

Along with getting devices for students, the technology department has been prepping classrooms to get them ready for the first day of school.

For students attending school virtually, the district has 125 wireless hot spots for those who are eligible and do not have access to the internet.

Pete Joenks, assistant superintendent, said the “tricky part” will be to make sure the wireless hot spots go to the right families. To make sure homes have a cell signal, the district’s technology staff is going to houses to check for a cell signal.

In addition, a networking company donated equipment to improve the district’s Wi-Fi hot spots in school parking lots. The equipment is installed at an estimated donation value of $16,000.

For those students who do not have the means for internet access, instruction will be provided through hard-copy packets or thumb drives.

“We will get instruction to them,” Joenks said.

Board members asked how many students would be attending school virtually, and Joenks responded, “It’s changing. It’s like grabbing Jello. Every time you think you got it, it’s going to slip through your fingers.”

Joenks said the percentage was 25% the week before the board meeting and was up to 32% on Aug. 18. Prairie Grove is asking parents to finalize their decision on whether their children will attend school in-person or virtually by Labor Day or the week after Labor Day.

“It’s not overwhelming,” Joenks said. “The first week will be a big week. If we go two weeks and no mess-ups, we may have some parents who want to bring kids to face-to-face learning. If we have to quarantine, then it could get ugly.”

Joenks said students attending school virtually are not concentrated in any particular grades but are spread out through all grades.

Another question asked by board members was how a decision would be made to close because of covid-19 cases.

Superintendent Reba Holmes said the Arkansas Department of Health would guide the district on any closures.

“If there’s one in a classroom, maybe then just that classroom,” Holmes said.

“Maybe just that hallway, maybe just that school or maybe the entire district.”

Or “maybe” the governor will shut down a region or the state, Holmes said.

“So the answer is maybe,” she told them.

Joenks said administrators have had many discussions on “what ifs.”

He said they’ve told teachers it is imperative they use the first week of on- site classes to make sure students open their Chromebooks and get instructions on what to do if the district has to send students home for virtual learning because of positive cases.

In other action, the board approved the 2020-21 School Improvement Plan, student handbooks for the year and the district’s Ready for Learning Plan due to the pandemic.

The only changes to student handbooks are procedures because of the new coronavirus.

Joenks said the Ready for Learning Plan has directives in it that are required by the Arkansas Department of Education and department of health.

“It’s going by exactly what we’re told to do,” Joenks said.

The board also approved a change to allow board members to attend a meeting remotely. The Arkansas Legislature approved allowing board members to do this several years ago but Prairie Grove had not adopted the change. This option is limited to three times per year.

In addition, the board voted to hold its 2021 school election in May to coincide with what other school districts are doing in Washington County. For 2020, Prairie Grove’s school election is on the November ballot.