By JAMES BELL
Hays Post
In a letter sent to the Hays USD 489 Board of Education on Wednesday, the O’Loughlin Parent Teacher Association is seeking further action on their request for the return of 40 iPads that were purchased by the association for use by kindergarten and first-grade classes at the school.
The subject was brought the board’s attention at last week’s work session, but was decided that district policy should not be changed in order to accommodate the request.
Further, the topic was not put onto the agenda for next Monday’s board meeting.
“Every other time that we have had a gift or anything the PTA or Home and School given to the school, it becomes school property,” said Dean Katt, USD 489 superintendent, during the work session.
Following the iPads being given to the district, the district enacted a 1-to-1 technology policy, putting mobile computing systems in the hands of every student.
“As we went through and decided to go 1-to-1, all of these devices from here, Washington, Roosevelt, anyplace that we had them, that were compatible to a new one, that we were going to use were figured into district numbers,” Katt said last week.
The PTA suggested the iPads were given to the district on loan and should now be returned now that the district is funding devices for each student.
“We feel you are working under an assumption that these 40 mini iPads were gifted to the school, which in turn become district property, without any documentation to say such,” Alaina Cunningham, PTA co-president, wrote in her letter to the board.
Without written documentation, district policy is clear for items bought for district use, district officials said.
“The board policy actually states currently that anything that is purchased by any asset organization that is distributed is district property.” said Sarah Wasinger, USD 489 board clerk.
Further, Katt said the PTA had never indicated their desire for the items to be loaned rather than given to the district.
“We don’t do on loans,” Katt said. “We never talked about any of that. … Our board policy … is very specific about becoming district property.”
Cunningham noted in her letter the lack of communication was the fault of the district and, as such, the PTA should not be held liable for the misunderstanding.
“It was discussed at our meetings when we purchased them that it would be our responsibility to maintain them,” Cunningham said. “That this would not be an expense the district would take on or nor would we ask them to. With that being said, it is clear to us these iPads were not purchased and gifted to the school.”
The PTA further stated the district failed to fully inform the PTA of its policies.
“No one offered to speak with us about our technology purchases and the district’s intent,” Cunningham wrote. “The new policy put in place in February 2015 was not officially brought to our attention until this matter was being addressed. We feel this has set a precedent as to future purchases by the PTA. It has made us aware of how to protect our students and ourselves. It has shown us the proper documentation we need in place, but above all else it has hindered the relationship with our PTA and the school board.”
After the iPads were given to the district they have been maintained under the assumption they had become district property.
“In essence, the district assumed responsibility of property protection, maintenance, purchase of software all of the things that would make it a useful functional device?” Paul Adams asked during the work-session.
The answer was a simple “Yes” from Katt.
The board’s legal counsel also sided with the assumption that, without a prior agreement, board policy should be upheld.
“With your policy and no understanding or any documentation saying it’s a loan, I don’t see why it wouldn’t be a straight-up gift,” said Michael Baxter, board legal council.
Gifts are often given to the school by the PTA and Home and School groups, for use by the district.
“Every school has purchased those types of items,” Katt said. “This could come back to playground equipment. Home and Schools have purchased all kinds of equipment, from water fountains to carpet to you name it. That’s the dilemma we’re in, if we say, OK, we’ll buy those back, or give them back, playground equipment anything else then it’s the same thing.”
After discussion, the board decided that no further action is required.
“I don’t see any reason to vote on this, it’s board policy and I don’t see any reason to change it,” said Lance Bickle, USD 489 board president.
However, the PTA wants further action on the issue.
“We would like to request that this issue be fully addressed,” Cunningham wrote.
But after the lack of action by the board at the work session, the decision seems settled as far as the board is concerned.
“Whether it is bitter or not, it is policy,” Adams said.
The text of the PTA letter follows:
November 11, 2015
To Whom It May Concern:
I am writing to you on behalf of the O’Loughlin PTA. We recently raised concern regarding the 40 mini iPads that the PTA purchased last year. These iPads were purchased with funds raised by O’Loughlin families in order to better the education of their children. There is a lot of time and effort spent by the O’Loughlin parents and students to raise these funds. The iPads were purchased with the intent for the PTA to own, maintain and determine use as needed by staff request. The PTA feels this letter is necessary to better inform you of our stand. We do not feel all of our points were presented at the recent work session.
It was the kindergarten teachers whom brought the initial request for 20 mini iPads to us last year. The request was brought to us because the current iPads that the district owned and that were in use at O’Loughlin were outdated. They were unable to do any more system upgrades to them due to their age. The staff was unable to use them as a learning tool and unable to load new programs due the lack of new technology. Over the next several months there was much discussion and debate as to what the PTA should do. It was a large sum of money, but we felt it was a much-needed learning tool that would facilitate the education of our children. Some of the staff had attended classes over the summer to aide in classroom use of technology; the purchase of these iPads would allow them put this in place in the classroom. The PTA then decided to purchase 40 mini iPads for the kindergarten and first grade teachers to use for centers and other such classroom learning. The thought behind doubling the requested purchase amount was so that if the need should arise for use in other grade levels we would have these available. Purchasing the iPads in bulk gave us a better rate, as we are sure you are well aware.
These iPads were purchased with the intent for the O’Loughlin PTA to own and maintain. The iPads were invoiced to the O’Loughlin PTA and a check was issued by the PTA payable to Apple. The iPads were so kindly set-up by Brian Drennon, but not at our request, if this is a service we should have been billed for then we would appreciate a late invoice. It was discussed at our meetings when we purchased them that it would be our responsibility to maintain them. That this would not be an expense the district would take on or nor would we ask them to. With that being said it is clear to us these iPads were not purchased and gifted to the school.
It was brought to our attention early this fall that the O’Loughlin staff was unable to locate the PTA purchased iPads upon the start of the new school year. After several weeks of unanswered questions as to the where a bouts of the 40 mini iPads it was brought to our attention by an outside source that the district had included them in their 1:1 K2 ratio count. This is when we contacted superintendent, Dean Katt to discuss the dispursement of the iPads throughout the district. We feel you are working under an assumption that these 40 mini iPads were gifted to the school, which in turn become district property, without any documentation to say such. We raise the question that if the district had not gone paperless and we still had our 40 mini iPads would they have been willing to repair or replace them due to damage if they were working under their assumption of them being a gift.
We want to share, that even more importantly, than the money lost by O’Loughlin PTA, due to this assumption, that there is a lack of communication from the school board to the home and school associations within our district. No one offered to speak with us about our technology purchases and the districts intent. The new policy put in place in February 2015 was not officially brought to our attention until this matter was being addressed. We feel this has set a precedence as to future purchases by the PTA. It has made us aware of how to protect our students and ourselves. It has shown us the proper documentation we need in place, but above all else it has hindered the relationship with our PTA and the school board. It has made the PTA rethink future purchases of tangible items. We hope you will see our stance as we have listened and heard yours. We would like to request that this issue be fully addressed.
Sincerely on behalf of the O’Loughlin PTA,
Alaina Cunningham
Co-President