The Limestone County Board of Education approved a new technology initiative at its May 14 meeting, doing away with a program that allowed students to take MacBooks home.

Brad Lewis, executive director of curriculum and instruction for Limestone County Schools, told board members during a May 7 work session the district had seen “significant damage and cost” in repairing or replacing damaged MacBooks since the 2013 implementation of a 1:1 MacBook program.

At the work session, Lewis presented a 1:2 cart-based initiative, starting in the 2019-2020 school year. The district would purchase 130 eduGear mobiLAB Smart Charge carts for charging and storing the MacBooks, then assign the carts to schools based on their student enrollment.

The expected cost would be $779.79 per cart, for a total of $101,372.70, according to a request form filed by LCS Director of Technology Karen Tucker. To cover this purchase, Tucker requested approval to sell about 500 MacBooks.

“The (information technology) department would like to offer these to our staff and students first and then utilize a trusted system like GovDeals to sell remaining devices,” Tucker said in a separate board request form, adding the number is approximate and subject to change.

The new tech initiative allows for each cart assigned to an elementary school to have 25 MacBooks, while each assigned to a high school would have 30. Leftover devices can be used for parts to repair or kept in inventory to replace damaged MacBooks.

“We really believe this is in the best interests of the students,” Lewis said at the work session.

All board members in attendance May 14 voted to approve the initiative.

High scores

Thirty-one students received commendations at the meeting for achieving a score of 30 or above on their ACT test. LCS Superintendent Tom Sisk congratulated students and teachers on their effort to achieve such high scores.

“We often talk about what it means to win a state championship in athletics. We often talk about what it means to get a medal,” he said. “The ACT 30+ Club is one of the top academic awards that you can receive.”

Other business

Board members also voted to approve the following:

• Maintenance contract with EqualLogic for support and upgrades for two servers housed at the Central Office, at a cost of $5,405.87 (annual, budgeted item);

• Purchase of equipment for design drafting program at the Limestone County Career Technical Center at a budgeted cost of $5,500 to be paid from Perkins funds at no cost to LCBOE;

• Use of state textbook funds to purchase Structures ELA Curriculum at a cost of $16,225 (no cost to LCBOE);

• Johnson Elementary Schools’ contract with FranklinCovey for Leader in Me using Title I funds in the amount of $2,500 (no cost to LCBOE);

• Expenditure of LCCTC local school funds in the amount of $7,600 for removal of asbestos from Pod A and Pod D (no cost to LCBOE);

• Contract with Berney Office Solutions for managed print service and maintenance at a monthly cost of $362.40 (budgeted item/paid from the general fund);

• Pine Chapel Elementary’s agreement with Marriott for professional development retreat July 22–23 (Title I funds/no cost to LCBOE);

• Sugar Creek Elementary’s contract with FranklinCovey for Leader in Me using Title I funds in the amount of $5,500 (no cost to LCBOE);

• Use of Title I funds for payment to Calhoun Community College for History 202, English 101 and English 102 dual enrollment courses for students at Title I schools during the summer (total payment not to exceed $16,361/no cost to LCBOE);

• Hiring of McKee & Associates for facility assessment and RKR Planning for projection services at a total cost of $32,000 using leverage funds;

• Graduation schedule for 2020;

• Board meeting and work session schedule for June 2019–May 2020; and

• Memorandum of understanding between Piney Chapel Elementary and Elkton Road Baptist Church to provide services under the schools’ 21st CCLC grant.