School district considers MacBook to Chromebook switch for students

Maintenance prices, data protection under agenda consideration

By Kate Hayden

khayden@charlescitypress.com

It’s at least a decade-old question these days between laptop owners in the Silicon Prairie: Google or Apple? During Monday’s school board meeting, the Charles City Community School District gets to jump right in.

School board members will review a request from technology director April Hanson to replace MacBook Pro laptops from 2012, issued to grades 9-12, with Chromebook laptops for grades 5-12, according to the agenda released Thursday. Low purchase and repair prices, an extended battery life that will last throughout school and coordination with Google for Education Domain data protection will be benefits of the switch, the agenda notes. Staff will continue teaching on newer issued MacBooks. Superintendent Dr. Dan Cox recommended approving the proposal.

Board members will take action on authorizing a request for modified supplemental fund amounts through the 2016-17 Dropout Prevention Program. Applications for the program were due Feb. 5, but requests for modified supplemental amounts could reach 75 percent of total, after-risk reimbursements.

Requesting a modified supplemental amount could “levy property tax to fill the shortage when the budget is approved in April,” the agenda item says. The total at-risk/dropout program budget proposal is $601,606, which funds the Carrie Lane program, the middle school and high school Success Program and partial funding for the Juvenile Court Liaison, among other programs.

The board will be updated on the potential China school partnership, initially presented in December. The proposal would join the Charles City School District with International Education Development Corporation, Ltd. (IEMC), and offer Chinese students two years in the U.S. education system and a chance to graduate with a CCHS degree. On Monday, board members will be updated on the potential contract’s progress.

The school board meets at the Colwell Community Center at 6:30 p.m. on Monday.

Other agenda items include:

• Update on ongoing joint facilities discussion with YMCA and TLC regarding potential facilities partnership at the high school
• Early retirement applications and resignations
• National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) conference