Hays school board approves HHS student computer purchase

By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post

After much debate, the Hays school board voted Monday to approve the purchase of new two-in-one Dell laptops for Hays High School students.

The purchase will cost $335,750. However, the district hopes to offset the cost of the purchase through the sale of the Surface tablets the students are using now.

Hays school board members Greg Schwartz and Lance Bickle debate the district’s technology program Monday night.

The district has had many issues with repairs on the Surfaces, and the warranty on the devices ends at the end of this school year. Cost for replacing the non-warrantied Surfaces would have been $310 each compared to the $395 purchase price of the new laptops.

Board members Greg Schwartz and Lance Bickle opposed the purchase, arguing the district should purchase Chromebooks, which are cheaper.

Scott Summers, technology director, said the cost difference between purchasing the recommended Dell and a Chromebook with the same warranty was $66 per device or $56,000 for the total purchase.

The tech committee and teachers expressed concern about switching platforms from a Windows-based operating system to a Google system. Summers said the district would lose countless hours worth of professional development. Also some equipment at the high school would not be compatible with the Google system, including $14,000 in science probes.

Other reasons the technology committee did not recommend Chromebooks include:

Limited offline capabilities for students traveling to school competitions and for students with limited or no internet access at home
Chromebooks would require additional dedicated lab space
Feedback from the career and technology program board that its programs needed a windows-based operating system for its software
Input from four-year universities that Chromebooks should not be used as a primary computer device.
Need to use full versions of some software packages, such as Adobe, for some classes that are not available through Chromebooks
Concurrent credit courses that need the full Microsoft Suite
Students certifying in Microsoft Office need the full Microsoft Suite

Bickle said he thought the district could weather a change in platforms.

“I remember when we changed from Apple to PC, and it was going to be the end of the world because everyone loved the Macs and there was a lot of, ‘Why are we switching to PCs?’ ” he said. “People got used to the PCs and now we are using the PCs. Part of the reason why they did that at the time was the sheer cost for the MacBooks. That is one of the reasons I wanted to look at the Chromebooks was the sheer cost.”

Bickle argue more software is becoming web-based, which makes using a Chromebooks more feasible.

Both Bickle and Schwartz cited other districts that use Chromebooks, including Thomas More Prep-Marian, Stockton and Plainville.

Bickle said the districts he talked to found ways for the Chromebooks to work. Some of the districts bought the cheaper Chromebooks for $200 each with one-year warranties and had students work on them in order to build technical skills.

Suzanne Stark, a business teacher at HHS, said she thought the Windows-based computers were important to the curriculum. She said swapping out their current computers for Chromebooks would be like taking away the board members’ cars and giving them bicycles and expecting them to do all the same work.

Stark said she did not think switching platforms would save the district money because of the need to retrain teachers.

Board member Paul Adams agreed.

“How much time are we going to spend on retraining instead of advancing the curriculum?” he asked. “We have invested the time and that costs money.”

HHS Principal Martin Straub said, “Technology is how we teach, and how students learn.”

Straub reiterated from the last meeting he felt technology is the top priority at the high school.

Bickle said he could not support the purchase in lieu of the district’s many facility needs.

“We have so many other things. From where I am sitting and trying to look at the budget, I just can’t say that technology is the No. 1 most important. … I just personally sit there and can’t say that technology is our most important thing that we have to do right now.”

The board asked the administration to study the possible use of Chromebooks in the future or a bring-your-own device policy. Computer purchases are now on a four-year cycle to make technology budget more consistent. The next computer purchase would be for the middle school in 2019.