BY JAMES BELL
Hays Post

At Monday night’s work session, the Hays USD 489 discussed technology and a future bond measure in a short session.

The board first heard a brief technology update concerning the iPad rollout through the elementary and middle schools and saw the video being shown to students with proper usages tips for the equipment.

Sixty-five percent to 70 percent of K-2 grades have already been through the iPad rollout, and grades 2-8 are nearly complete, according to Marie Henderson, who presented the information to the board.

Following the information, board member Sarah Rankin asked about keyboard implementation for the iPad’s after two English teachers had asked about using the iPads for composition.

The district currently is in a wait-and-see mode as to whether the keyboards will be needed, but if it is decided later they are necessary, they can be made available.

“There is money available,” said Superintendent Dean Katt.

Teachers are now sending in app requests to the district for evaluation.

“Overall,” Katt said, “rollout has gone well.”

The board also discussed a potential bond issue to fund a series of building improvements throughout the district.

At this point, however, there is little that can move forward.

“We don’t really have any idea,” Katt said, in terms of how much money might be requested for a bond issue. At this time, the architectural firms handling the upgrade plans will be brought in to discuss where they are with the board to begin outlining a timeline for facility upgrades.

The board also looked at the results of the board retreat last week, with Katt suggesting there might be too many goals outlined to achieve measurable success for each.

“The things we have available we want to maximize,” Katt said.

Rankin suggested to prioritize the goals in order to make them more manageable rather than take some off the table. In response, Katt asked the board members to send to the administration each of their priorities to be looked at during the next board meeting.