One of our readers suggested we check into all of the iPads being purchased by the Lake County School District for the new Minneola High School. Our source told us to request information on Purchase Order 00521347 (Click here to view details). Goodness! This has to go under, “What were they thinking?” How out-of-touch can the Lake County School Board be?
The district purchased and received 1,750 Apple iPads at $399.00 each, for a total purchase price of $698,250.00. Yes, your Lake County School District, which has a total debt of more than a half billion dollars just spent nearly $700,000.00 on Apple iPads for every student at the new Minneola High School! At the same time, they are laying-off teachers and cutting drafting and accounting programs throughout the district.
On February 24, 2011, during a school board workshop held on technology for the new Minneola High School, Lake County School District CFO Carol MacLeod presented the capital budget to pay for iPad technology upgrades while Kathy Halbig, Manager of Innovative Learning, made a power point presentation on the advantages and disadvantages of using iPads in the classroom.
The district’s scheme is to have every student at the new Minneola High School use iPads instead of text books; however, they approved the purchase of the iPads without knowing how much download charges for textbooks cost. According to official School Board Minutes, Chairman Debbie Stivender and School Board Member Rosanne Brandeburg were in favor of purchasing the iPads while School Board Member Jim Miller expressed concern if parents could afford to pay toward these iPads. According to School Board Minutes, Superintendent Dr. Susan Moxley summarized the School Board was in favor of purchasing the iPads.
The Right Side of the Lake newsletter published on January 20, 2011, criticized iPad purchases made by the district on behalf of Leesburg High School (Click to View). At that time, the district justified the expenditure by saying the iPads were paid for by free federal grant money from the Obama administration.
The 1,750 iPads purchased for the new Minneola High School were not paid for with Washington stimulus money; rather, they were paid for by the district’s local capital budget. Our group asked CFO MacLeod where the district got the money for the iPads, and her response was, “They are part of the cost of opening a new school and included in the capital funds.” We pressed her as to whether the capital funds she referenced came from school impact fees or the general fund. After several follow-up emails to CFO MacLeod, we have yet to receive a response from her.
In The Right Side of the Lake newsletter published on May 19, 2011, CFO MacLeod told us the new Minneola High School was fully paid for based on the collection of school impact fees (Click to View). According to the presentation made on February 28, 2011 on the budget update for the new Minneola High School, the capital budget for MHS included $2 million in technology upgrades. According to official School Board Minutes from the February 24, 2011, workshop, CFO MacLeod called these iPads technology upgrades; however, in the same workshop board members discussed how these iPads would take the place of textbooks and school messaging.
Here is the issue: By Florida Statute, School Impact Fees cannot be used for operations or maintenance; School Impact Fees must be used for basic brick and mortar to build student stations. If the 1,750 iPads for the new Minneola High School were purchased with capital funds derived from School Impact Fees, then this purchase is a violation of Florida Statute, and it opens up Pandora’s Box as to other purchases that have been illegally made from collected School Impact Fees.
Based on the district’s new Minneola High School iPad Student Policy, there’s no doubt these 1,750 iPads are being used as learning tools in the operation of the new MHS (click here to view policy). If these funds were derived from School Impact Fees then CFO MacLeod needs to state those facts, and a thorough audit of how and where School Impact Fee money is being spent needs to occur. We are very concerned School Impact Fees may have become the school district’s slush fund.
Giving 1,750 iPads out to high school students to take home is a disastrous policy that has failure written all over it. What in the world were the school board members thinking? This is going to cost the district a fortune in maintenance and replacement costs, and it is nonsense to try to make parents pay for a lost or damaged iPad, especially when half of the students are on the free lunch program. In these hard economic times, when credit is so tight, most parents couldn’t scrape up the money if their child accidentally lost or destroyed their iPad. This stunt can’t be blamed on the previous board – these are five so-called fiscally conservative Republicans making this ridiculous decision!
Here’s the issue that really bites: The district is laying off teachers, while at the same time purchasing 1,750 iPads for almost $700,000.00. Is the school board so out-of-touch they can’t see how bad this makes them look? Lake County families are literally starving to death and losing their homes; you would expect five fiscally conservative Republicans to be mindful to save every dollar. On the contrary, they made the decision to purchase 1,750 iPads. This is why people hate government and politicians!
The Lake County School Board’s approval of the iPad purchases without knowing the cost of downloading the textbook software is concerning. The cost to download, manage, and respect copyrights of the textbook software will be enormous. Also, as inefficiently as the district operates the end cost will probably be a lot more than just buying the textbook software. Just like bound textbooks, these iPads will be rained on, lost, stolen, and destroyed along with the textbook software, which will be copyrighted. The only difference is that bound textbooks are a lot more durable and will last a heck of a lot longer.
Our group is not against technology. What we are against is waste, fraud, and dumb decisions. In a couple of years, these 1st Generation iPads will probably be so out-of-date that they will no longer be supported. Then, the district will be faced with the decision of buying bound-textbooks or spending another $700,000.
At some point, school board members and school administrators should be held accountable for purchasing 1,750 iPads for $698,250.00. Here are the real concerns regarding this iPad issue:
- According to our legal sources, if the district used School Impact Fee dollars to purchase these iPads then this is a violation of Florida Statute. Is this why Lake County needs School Impact Fees? How much School Impact Fee money has been diverted to other “needs” instead of building student stations?
- If the district used capital funds derived from the general fund, how can they in good conscience make that decision while laying-off teachers and killing basic educational programs? This money could have been used to keep 23 teachers employed.
- Requiring parents to take responsibility for iPads assigned to their children by the district in this economy is almost criminal. There will be countless good kids who accidentally lose or damage their assigned iPad, and parents will be faced with difficult decisions. How can you make a parent who has no money pay for something that is destined to fail?
- Buying a 1st Generation iPad that will be obsolete in two years without knowing how much the textbook software will cost is beyond irresponsible. The lifespan of this technology is very limited and the short-term savings will be lost by the long-term viability of regular books.
- Can you imagine giving 1,750 iPads to high school students and expecting them not to destroy, lose, damage, or steal them? The repair and replacement costs will be staggering.
During the last school board meeting, the board approved Kathy Halbig to attend an Apple conference in California. According to official School Board Minutes, Apple is taking care of conference expenses and Ms. Halbig is paying for her travel expenses. After the purchase of so many Apple iPads by the district, this conference sounds like another selling opportunity for Apple computers!
Tell us what you think. Are we wrong to question this purchase as wasteful or do you think the school board made a wise decision?
The Right Side of the Lake is a publication of Citizens for Better Government, L.L.C., and if you would like to comment on today’s column please go to our website www.lakecountygov.info or www.therightsideofthelake.com. This newsletter is free to all who would like to subscribe, and we encourage you to send it out to everyone on your mailing list. If you have information or a topic you would like us to cover please email us directly at lakecountygov@lakecountygov.info.
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im excited about the ipads…but all the money could go to better things like BETTER FOOD!!!! but its still nice to know that im going to get an ipad!!!
TO:
Fire them all
June 17, 2011 at 8:25 pm
“Kathleen Halbig should be fired if she accepts goods and services from a supplier. Doesn’t this violate some kind of ethics policy or law?”
Seems as though you are a disgruntled fellow employee firing cheap shots at substance that is lost and stretched. The “BLOG” here states Ms. Halbig’s name as Kathy, not Kathleen. Seems like you enjoy stretching more than the TRUTH. BUT WE ALL KNOW “BLOG” DOESN’T EQUAL TRUTH!
The truth? You can’t handle the truth.
There is a reasonable priced insurance policy the parents can purchase to insulate them from the cost of loss. If a student was to lose their book bag or leave it out in the rain, the cost of the books would far ought weigh the cost of an Ipad. Many of the students already use smartphones and similar devices every day. Claiming that there is going to be some kind of mass destruction of the devices is nothing more than fear mongering.
Let’s face it, there are very few jobs in the world, especially good paying in-demand jobs, that do not entail daily computer use. The full function PCs the district must use are $700+(a technology security issue) with a 4 year lifespan. This does not include the ongoing costs for the windows software, the costs of the space to house the units, or the electrical costs from use and air conditioning. LCS has about 1 computer per 4 students. Ipads can/will help save on some of that. Hopefully, once these devices prove themselves, the State will allow testing to be done on Ipads which will reduce the need for full size PCs and their associated costs.
I am and have been against LCS providing students with personal devices. Ultimately, (IMHO),we need student supplied devices and LCS supplied software/ebooks/media. The price of laptops have dropped tremendously in the past year and as competition heats up between tablet manufactures, prices will drop there too. The district needs to be sure that this technology can be utilized county wide and LMHS creates a good pilot opportunity so we are sure our technology infrastructure dollars are spent wisely.
LCS copy center puts out 10.2 million copies every month. Every county wide letter they mail costs about $30,000. Every student book must be accounted for by hand, physically moved and stored in a climate controlled area. The cost of state/federal mandated computer based testing is substantial. There are too numerous areas to mention where the Ipad offers potential cost savings.
All the cost issues aside, they are a fantastic teaching module that not only offer books and multimedia, but instantaneous cognitive feedback, specialized learning programs, and much more. Lake County Schools can either choose to be at the forefront of technology ensuring our students have a fighting chance in the world job market, or we can choose to be mired in half-truths and rhetoric ensuring the failure of the next generation.
To: “Yep! You’re an idiot! says:”
Still not one valid comment regarding the facts posted! You just stand there and stomp
and call everyone idiots and say ” It’s a sad sad thing being angry all the time.”
I see no angry here only truth. And let me tell you from experience no idiot can possible provide all this documentation and present it in a discernible format. You smack of someone who suffers from the liberal/ progressive syndrome when they lose control of their environment.
They tend to stand in one place and scream at the top of their lungs until they wet their diapers and verbalize that they have been unfairly caught at their schemes and it’s everyone’s fault but theirs. I think this goes to another blog I saw on here a few days ago which stated something to the effect that “everything is backwards in Lake County!”
The real problem here is that some folks believe that old saying of “the truth will set you free” might just be reversed like most other things in Lake County and in fact be found to mean the truth might send you up the road to the big house! If so somebody had better charter a bus because there’s a full load needing the trip!
Yes. It’s a sad sad thing being angry all the time. Maybe you can find a really stupid person willing to give you a hug.
Why don’t you attack all the malicious lies these people post on here? Ans. Because you can’t find any that’s why! So therefore you must attempt to attack these truth mongerers any way you can! The truth is a dangerouse thing when so much sickness and wrong is flourishing and Tavares! You can’t control the flow of the truth and that is dangerous to the way you people operate! It took thousands of years before people figured out how to control the gospel! You had better get to work you have a long way to go before you can stiffle the truth! It’s everywhere!, It’s everywhere!
Just like those people who get outside the Lake County protected area and wind up in jail for what they have been doing all along in Lake County but being protected by friends! I can name some of them! Chris Daniels Jr., A. J. Rohe, and now Borders pet bailiff, Robert Myers goes to jail in Marion County for domestic battery! Now he’s telling everyone that he was really the aggressor last year when his girlfriend when to jail and lost her job as a deputy sheriff. He says the Lake Sheriff had someone change his statement and charge the girlfriend instead of him! They later dropped the charges on her but she still lost her job! What’s a man to do when he can’t control his environment?
You’re an idiot. Oh I already said that. Is it true you hide your name because of your shady past. hehe!
“I have had all I can stand and I can’t stands no more.” ~ Popeye
LET’S NOT FORGET TO GIVE SOME CREDIT TO LARRY METZ FOR ALL THIS DEBT TOO!
• The School District is over a half billion dollars in debt.
• Metz and Fischer authorized the building of resort style schools with staggering costs. They didn’t manage their own growth because the district now has over 10,000 student stations too many.
• Spending at the District is out of control. We rank in the bottom third in teacher pay, but in the top 20% in administration costs in the state. The District overpaid a contractor $7 million because they didn’t understand the invoices, and everyone knows about the Ritz Carlton debacle.
• In September 2007, School Board Chairman Metz pushed through a recommendation to raise school impact fees from $7,055 to $14,646. He was quoted afterward saying, “It sounds draconian to a have a 100% increase,” and he justified it by saying what matters the most is getting the money to build schools.
• In 2006, Lake County Schools were rated a “B”, and according to just released FCAT scores the District is a lower rated “B” District.
Thanks to the likes of Jimmy Conner, and he is not the only one, we Lake taxpayers are over $560 MILLION in long term school board bond debt right now! This money was borrowed to pour into their PPI contractor and other friends and new schools (many not needed) were built all over this county! Many of them hide in out of the way places!
The problem here is they are not programed to fund these repairs made by county maintenance employee’s! Not enought kickback from parts and such! They go where the big money kickbacks are! So repairs have got way behind. Don’t let anyone tell you a 20 year old A/C unit has a parts problem! We see this everyday, because I work right here!
Also, don’t forget the Lake County school board get’s 1/3 of the extra penny sales tax in Lake county already! This is the same penny that the BOC pledges for every project the want to do! Why can’t the LCSB use that for capital repairs, that’s what it is for? Some day when we get some honest law enforcement somewhere in Florida some body will bring a screaching halt to this multitude of local corruption! Sad thing is by then Lake County will be looking like Detroit and Rome and it will be too late to fix it! All the theives that brought this on and got away with it will be in the mountains of NC and TN most have already bought their getaway homes!
June 24, 2011 at 6:56 pm
Troy Shimkus says:
“First off, there are so many half-truths and misconceptions both in the piece and in many of the comments, too many to respond to really.”
Mr. Shimkus, we apoligize! The only reason for the half-truths is because the number of problems are so huge and deep and as you say, “too many to respond to really.”
As for any misconceptions I believe it’s just that the schemes and corruption are also so huge and deep the average person can’t understand just how to communicate them! Taxpayers in general prefer to simply ignore it and hope it goes away!
When it goes away our school system will be in bankruptcy! The teachers and administrators will be waving more SEIU signs and banners and if the SEIU choses to save their jobs they will be relocated to a foreign country! Then and only then will they be happy!
For those who remember or care to remember! Even in the 1960′s and 70′s Detroit made the finest vehicles in the world! But the union’s kept on demanding and demanding! In 1964 – I bought the finest fleetwood caddy on the market for $5,000. Soon after that the union’s began their streak to the top! Well they got their way and the union members eventually got unemployed because they priced themselves out of a job! Today if you look in Webster’s dictionary for the definition of “hell” it will say “also see Detroit for world experiment of same!”
If the people continue to suffer from “look the other way” and allow these bureaucrats and crooked politicians to continue these “building missions” and other crazy purchases while repairs and other day to day obligations are ignored simply for the sake of kickbacks from contractors and architects and insurance providers and such, we will not only have no schools, but we also will have no county government as well. You see, all this is connected at the hip and Lake County is being stolen blind every day right under your noses!
As too the school board, they know exactly how to control the issues! Divide and conquer! They say old retiree’s should not have a say because they have no children in the schools! What they really mean is we don’t want them to speak or get involved because they have a tendancy to organize in large groups and get vocal!
They know the parents with children in the schools are reluctant to complain because their children will suffer for the parents actions! They will be held back a year or otherwise punished for their parents coming forth to address any actions!
So, they have it all figured out! Just keep making deals and building and buying until the lights go out! Then what in the hell are they going to do? Run like the bunch of rats they are I guess! But that usually happens when the lights come on instead of when they go off!
Nothing new! Everything runs backwards in Lake County!
I’m glad that some people can provide their names. I did notice that the person said they were a “former” employee. Some of us still need our jobs and the only way we can get the truth out is by providing these anonymous posts.
CLERMONT— The 800-pound air conditioners at South Lake High School are so old, their leaking valves flooded five classrooms in the middle of the night a few weeks ago. In the winter, students wore jackets to school because the units didn’t heat enough.
As in other Central Florida districts, Lake schools’ maintenance directors hope to make repairs before it becomes an emergency. But fewer state funds and dropping property values across the area are forcing many districts to play triage between preventative and emergency maintenance.
“We’re just a heartbeat away from catastrophic failure there,” said Mike Corr, maintenance and renovation director for Lake County schools.
And yet; there was plenty of money to build an upscale football stadium and track in Minneola and to purchase ipads and electronic school billboards.
Moxley, MacLeod, and the entire school board need to go. NOW,
Troy Shimkus ~ Great expose’
Most bloggers have found they can cut to the bare bones truth better by remaining anonoymous because it leaves out the personalities and the personal attacks provides only the truth of their feeling in the subject matter.
The your chickens**t remarks and the constant hammering of those who share the truth without identifying themselves by the likes of some of Lake Counties greatest personalites such as Ralph Smith, Vance Jochim, Randy Wiseman as well as a few more “wisemen” is nothing more than an effort to contain the contents of these blogs on behalf of their “friends” some of whom are getting the truth about them on the street!
So welcome aboard. Bring the truth with you and don’t get to wrapped up on who the rest of us are. Some of us you probably know in real life but that’s for another day!
Right now Let’s unite our efforts and see if we can cause honesty and consertive restrainsts to become a part of our public monies being spent for the most good of all concerned!
First off, there are so many half-truths and misconceptions both in the piece and in many of the comments, too many to respond to really. When it comes to whether or not Apple iPads should have been chosen over Android tablets, the simple answer is that Android is nowhere near ready for this kind of adoption and use. Look into ROI studies on Apple vs Windows and you’ll find that while the upfront cost is higher for Apples, their longevity is longer than other companies, the cost of software/OS updates is much lower ($29 for Apple vs over $200 for Windows), you’ll see that Apple devices have a much higher ROI.
That being said, let me also say that I take offense to the type of inflammatory writing presented in this article that attempts to use half-truths and misconceptions to generate an emotional response from the reader, and I find that unprofessional and tiring in today’s media.
I am a former LCSB employee and I will be the first to say that there are many things that need improvement and several things that can be done better in terms of administration. I can say through personal experience that there has been tremendous growth in these areas in a positive direction and LCSB continues to innovate on many levels.
Now, let me look at a few points from the article:
>>According to our legal sources, if the district used School Impact Fee dollars to purchase these iPads then this is a violation of Florida Statute. Is this why Lake County needs School Impact Fees? How much School Impact Fee money has been diverted to other “needs” instead of building student stations?
–This is valid, if the county is using incorrect funds, that is an issue that needs to be dealt with.
>>If the district used capital funds derived from the general fund, how can they in good conscience make that decision while laying-off teachers and killing basic educational programs? This money could have been used to keep 23 teachers employed.’
–If you are going to make the first point, then you should know that the budgets pay for different things, and that the funds used for the technology can’t necessarily be used for personnel. Also, more teachers isn’t the answer to better teaching. Giving the teachers you have at a school better tools is a much better use of funds. Adding 23 teachers to the MHS roster doesn’t mean that they have 23 more classrooms to teach in or any other additional resources that those 23 teachers would need – teaching supplies, additional books, computers, etc.
>>Requiring parents to take responsibility for iPads assigned to their children by the district in this economy is almost criminal. There will be countless good kids who accidentally lose or damage their assigned iPad, and parents will be faced with difficult decisions. How can you make a parent who has no money pay for something that is destined to fail?
–Parents are financially responsible for much of their students school costs, including band, football, cheerleading, track, and any number of other activities that students take part in. The $400 cost of an iPad is not the biggest issue in their school career. Currently they are responsible for the cost of text books, however, no parent is “forced” to pay, if they don’t pay there are very little consequences that the school has to take advantage of. Not having read the student agreement yet, I don’t know what it says in there about it, but having been both a teacher and a district level trainer, I know parents are not held responsible for hundreds of dollars of missing/damaged materials and text books when they are unable to pay. The district is not nearly as heartless as you would want your readers to believe.
>>Buying a 1st Generation iPad that will be obsolete in two years without knowing how much the textbook software will cost is beyond irresponsible. The lifespan of this technology is very limited and the short-term savings will be lost by the long-term viability of regular books.
–This is just a non-issue. Just because something faster comes out doesn’t make the previous generation “obsolete” They will continue to function for several years at least and be more than adequate for use in the classrooms. Printed text books however are obsolete before they are printed given that they are edited and changed constantly. Especially books dealing with world events and science, having access to up to the minute content is much more beneficial than an archaic text book.
>>Can you imagine giving 1,750 iPads to high school students and expecting them not to destroy, lose, damage, or steal them? The repair and replacement costs will be staggering.
–Yes I can. Students will perform as expected. Understanding that accidents happen, students should be trusted and expected to handle the equipment. Just because you are afraid of a student dropping an iPad doesn’t mean he should never have the opportunity to use the device. Computers and other equipment need just as much if not more repair and replacing, does that mean we just not let students use them? I am just insanely tired of people automatically assuming students are just irresponsible brainless monkeys that can’t handle any responsible. These are high school students who will be running our country within the next 10 years, at what point do you suggest we trust them with being able to handle basic responsibility?
The one major sticking point I have with the situation is that the district had to pay retail for the devices. Knowing Apple as I do, I don’t imagine they have any discounts, but I don’t know how hard the district tried to fight for lower bulk/education pricing.
Finally, you will notice I used my real name and real contact info for this post. If you are too embarrassed or cowardly to own your opinions, then I believe that you should keep them to yourself unless you have some specific need for remaining anonymous.
How about one or two programs that issue out and utilize ipads for just the students that demonstrate aptitude for science, math and technology and have the grades to support it. All 1700 students will not be employed in these fields. And to that we should hope not. It’s time to realize there is some importance in the trades and the basic learning that enhances them. As to “Facts Just Facts”, I am now lactose intolerant. What a strange obsession.
Your shouts remind me of someone affraid of a ghost! Don’t you realize “name” is really many bloggers! If a blogger choses not to use a name the “name box” is published with the comment!
On the other hand many blogger do use a name and they leave “name” in the name box and name preceeds the name they enter! Some bloggers have realized they can delete “name” and it will not appear before the name!
Please don’t bother to thank me for this information! I do it as a public service, since out schools
provided little or no education to children who are really people many of us has steped in to cover the slack! Makes it rough though because many of us are also taking on side jobs if e=we can find them and doing those envelope stuffings at home and such for extra income to keep our taxes paid!
Please provide your name and phone number so we can talk with you and help you because lonely ness should not happen to anyone. We want to help you to get the facts and not just be a coward behind this web-site.
My name Jose Hemenez my phone number is 555-555-0181 and it is gettin lonely out here in the real world! I hope we are not paying you to be an educator or principal or something, if so no wonder children can;t spell anymore. ei. “lonely ness” is really spelled loneliness!
it is really refreshing to see you folks squirm when the truths about your actions are filying around th einternet like this! What I really like is contrary to what some of you “educated”
people believe all these articles are searchable on google!
Don’t worry about who we are, that causes ulcers! Worry about what you are doing that we are watching and dedicate the rest of your life to fixing it! that would be a good thing!
Facts, must lead a very sad life.
NAME: Why are you afraid to come out with your name and job title if you are such an expert on all the affairs in the school board? Why have you not run for office since you know it all? You are the biggest coward that I have ever seen by making statements without the facts and must be jealous of why you are where you are as others are passing you by.
I wonder who really hurt you when you were young, you must be one of those babies that was not breast fed and now you are angry because the lack of breast feeding has now caused you mental issues that only can be solved by trying to hurt other people with this web-site and provide a release for your mental health issues.
Please provide your name and phone number so we can talk with you and help you because lonely ness should not happen to anyone. We want to help you to get the facts and not just be a coward behind this web-site.
You really need to go back and look at how they squandered the $5,000,000 they got in grant money. It is quite apparent that there was no long-term strategy to use the funds.
This is just a war between the haves and the have not’s! These government bureaucrats “have” our money and they wiz it away in the wind like it growns on tree !
All the while they think we have not got any right to complain about the wonderful job they are doing blowing our money!
They say we should just be glad they don’t waste more that they do!
I say it’s a good thing we don’t get all the government we pay for!
A fool with money. This is a bunch of fools with other people money.
Does anyone understand the school process before a decision is made on what goes into a new school such as I Pads or even furniture?
The school principal who at the end of the FCAT day is accountable to every parent and student in making sure that they pass the FCAT, learn and become the most successful business person they can be in supporting themselves and or their family.
The school principal had to make a presentation as to why she wanted the IPADS and she showed the courage in her leadership in trying a new and innovative direction with an innovative piece of technology.
Why are all the parents spending hundreds of dollars on gameboy, cell phones, texting services, technology games etc? Why not just go out and buy them a book as this group is suggesting as the solution to savings money and educating their own child.
This school district has brought in over $5,000,000 milloin dollars in State Technology Grants because Kathy Halbig and Liz Holbert had a vision which was one of allowing our Lake County students to have the same technology opportunities as other states or counties are providing.
That is $5,000,000 million dollars. I did not see the Right Side of the Lake or their Cronnies say to stop writing grants because we want other school districts to get those funds.
We live as we all know in a very competitive world and we need to prepare our children for that challenge, the challenge will be technolgy on top of learning how to read, write and understand math not just by a calculator that parents are buying their kids.
The school principal recommends and justifies her educational strategies in raising test scores and preparing her students for the 21st Century.
Decisions do not allow for someone to force any principal in doing something that they do not want to do since they ahve school base management in place if you know what that means.
Know the facts before you throw your stones, sit in the school board meetings and get the facts and not just keep saying that someone told you……………………………………………. and you run with it as an exclusive story.
Whoever is writing this **** must not have been breast fed because their anger is clearly evident and I am sure by what they are writing about that this must be a recommendation from their mental health counselor as a means of delaing with all of their bad experiences as a youth, not being breast fed and now have serious mental health issues and using this Right Side of the Lake as a means of letting out their frustartions is supposed to make them feel better. Well if that is what it takes then we all hoe that you feel better and please keep writing.
Dolt; a dull stupid person who tends to make stupid comments, commenly refered to as a blockhead.
To the person that posted that no textbooks or pc’s are being purchased, I would highly recommend that you do a public record request for all the Furniture, Fixture and Equipment expenditures at the new high school. These are generally called “FF&E”. You will find that they are still purchasing the same number of computers.
Not so pessimistic now!
No one knows (or noes?) the difference anymore how to correctly use: ‘their’ and ‘there ‘and ‘they’re’ and even ‘thier’ or ‘too’ or ‘to’ or ‘two’!!!!!. And very few, I would say a very rare number anymore could actually sit down alone and compose any kind of decent letter or report in longhand. How many Administrators do you suppose? And you know who cares? !!! Nobody. Longhand???! What is that?! Right. Who cares about teaching the basics? Nobody. What a world!!!! Just give me my goofy useless iPad dangit, cuz I have to make a phone call.
Gee whiz, I just tried sending a post with my new iPad but it looks like a no-go. Hullo? Hulllooo? Sarcasm, get it?
unfortunately this kind of situation is not unique to Lake County, Most school boards make thier decisions based on information spoon fed them by the administration. We all keep looking for leadership from the board, but———–
Several issues are being ignored:
1) yes, iPads cost $ – but no textbooks or pcs are being purchased for LMHS so you have to look at the real cost by subtracting the amount saved (shame on you for not giving the TRUE cost)
2) an inexpensive ($25) insurance policy can be purchased by students – of course families will not be expected to replace due to an accident – the policy will cover it (shame on you for not investigating further and for not giving the school credit for looking out for its students)
3) anyone with any sense knows that $ spent on computers is a different kind of $ than is spent on teacher’s salaries – you can’t mix the two (shame on you for twisting the facts to confuse those that don’t understand different kinds of budgets)
It seems like to me we should applaud the county and LMHS for trying to move forward and do something great. Instead of trying to criticize and tear them down – let’s watch for their successes and cheer them on! Will their be mistakes? Absolutely! But let’s be in their corner, help them learn from their mistakes and move all of Lake County into the 21st century.
So, most of all – shame on you for being such a pessimist!!!!!
No pessimist ever discovered the secrets of the stars, or sailed to an uncharted land, or opened a new heaven to the human spirit. Helen Keller
You right! SEIU runs everything at all the school systems. In Lake they run everything except the insurance part. Jimmy conner runs that. Edd Holder use to run everything insurance for the sheriff and a lot for the county. Jimmy Conner has run him out of that. You don’t hear much about Holder anymore. Ain’t even seen him in the the Lake Magazine lately.
why does anyone check the buses out on SR 561 near TMS, there are 20 some brand spankin new bues there for a least 2 months. They cost 95 to 100,000. each… Romor has it the SEIU is not letting them be handed out… IS the UNION running Lake County Schools???????? My kid rides a 2000 model bus looks and sounds like it is on it last leg…
Perhaps the school board needs to be reminded of their own policies before letting someone go to California..
See 7.65 Antifraud:
3. Fraud includes, but is not limited to, knowingly misrepresenting the truth or concealment of a material fact in order to benefit personally or to induce another to act to his/ her detriment
…
B. Accepting or offering a bribe, gifts, or other favors under circumstances that indicate that the gift or favor was intended to influence an employee’s decision-making.
Kathleen Halbig should be fired if she accepts goods and services from a supplier. Doesn’t this violate some kind of ethics policy or law?
Yes, this is the next generation of how kids will learn.
But:
1 – Should have tried a pilot program first – say 1 whole grade at a certain school
2 – or, should have considered starting with kids in first grade – a pilot program, where kids are evualuted on the new technology as they progress from grade to grade
3 – and should lease the equipment from a company like Naile Computers in Clermont – that way they are updated every 2 years with new techinolgy and would be insured from damage
4 – if the pilot program shows no benefit, drop the program, again the benefit of a lease would come in
This goes well with everything else at Minneola High. Only the biggest and the best will do and the cost is of no concern. The goal is to create a superior school to all other Lake County schools and cause envy among students and parents. They in turn will support more spending so that all will be fair. It’s not about whether the students will be more prepared because they have an ipad. It’s about using a new school as a stage to show everyone else what they are missing out on. Just another way for more government biggering and biggering.
If the School Board is in violation of the law, then it must be investigated and dealt with now. Apparently, this out of control elite spending has been handed off from generation to generation just like the bad behavior of a king to his successor. If we elect people that will continue the bad behavior of the previous elected then we are just voting musical chairs. I am most disappointed with Jim Miller. I never would have dreamed he would have spent his or our money like that! And please do not even put those yellow buses around the county for so called much needed donations of school supplies! Is there such a procedure as recall if the law has been broken?
Maybe before anyone is elected to handle our money they need to pass a written test and sign an oath not to waste the peoples money or face criminal jail time!
This is a good analysis, but some comments:
- I am against using iPads for TWO simple reasons – First, Apple is the most expensive system to use by the time you include download fees. Who is paying for the connections services – they might get it free for a period of time, but after that? The Board seems to vote on capital projects without also demanding a clear analysis of future operating costs, including maintenance, replacement insurance, etc. Second: Apple is not used in the real working world. They are toys for artists and kids, but no meaningful business software runs on it. it is like teaching everyone in Swahili, then wondering why their graduates can’t get jobs from English speaking business owners after graduating.
- Comments on your analysis:
- I will bet there is a definition of Capital costs that computers, including the iPads, are considered Capital expenses. Whenever staff asks for approval of personal computer “refresh” (replacement) programs, it is from the Capital budget.
- There was no discussion that I assume these iPads are being used instead of personal computers which are at other schools. However, if staff bought personal computers and ALSO iPads, that is excessive.
- Why would they buy 1750 iPads now when there are not students in the new school yet? Did someone know about upcoming changes in iPads and got LCSD to buy the ones that are now or soon to be obsolete?
- The School district also recently bought a whole mess of OTHER types of tablets, with reinforced screens. So, that means THREE different computer technologies in the school system, requiring three different maintenance systems.
The iPads were originally a pilot program, and I assumed it was until more mainstream tablets using Android operating systems came out. But choosing iPads means selecting a technology that teachers and students might like, but useless out in the real world.
- Did anyone review whether the next levels of education, LSCC or UCF have adopted iPads – if not, as students go to those programs, they will also suffer in the transition.
- LCSD uses an internal information tech committee of staff – it is not public like County Committees, and does not (to my knowledge) have business owners or private IT people on it to help raise these issues. Such a committee should be public so that observers can provide input before the last minute decisions like this.
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