Budget Committee Will Explore Mac vs. PC for School Board

was tabled at Monday's Southern Lehigh School Board meeting following an outcry of concerns for the program. 

The leasing option was presented to the board by the budget and finance committee and Ken Jordan. The plan, explained Jordan, would sell the district's 1,500 Macbooks and replace them with 2,000 new models at an overall savings to the district of $200,000. 

"Approximately 600 [of the district's Macbooks] are no longer under warranty," said Jordan. "A leasing agreement ensures new technology for the district, and eliminates teachers competing for the [computer carts]."

The increase from 1,500 to 2,000 laptops would also allow a 1:1 ratio of laptops to students instead of the current 2:1 ratio, which could allow students to do more work outside the classroom, said Jordan. "A move like this could tear down the walls of the school. Students could make podcasts or IMovies from home."

The increased ratio wasn't a selling point for all members of the audience or the school board. "I just wonder where's the research that says kids with laptops are more successful," said district resident Kathie Parsons. "I have a son who went through the district and he says he didn't really use the laptop carts in school."

"Personally, I don't want all students to have computers all the time," said board member Jeff Dimmig. "Especially at the elementary level, I think there's a place for good old-fashioned learning." 

Other board members questioned the district's decision to use Apple systems in the classroom to begin with. "Why do we have to use Mac [computers] in the first place," said board member Bill Lycett. "[Apple computers] only have 5 percent of the market. If we're preparing students to go out into the adult world, this won't cut it."

Board members also voiced opinions on the expense of Apple operating systems versus PC-based systems. "For students, we are teaching computer skills that they are perfectly capable of learning on a PC," said board member John Quigley. 

Budget and finance committee members expressed concern about switching the district to PCs at this point, citing the price to purchase not only the laptops but the software, as well as the cost of training teachers, employees and students on new systems. "The cost of retraining is important, the cost of new versions of software...need to be considered [in the cost of bringing PCs into the district]," said budget and finance chair Corinne Gunkle. 

Though the board was slated to take action on the leasing agreement at this meeting, the motion was tabled while the budget and finance committee and administration gather additional information to compare costs of implementing a PC-based system throughout the district with those of the Apple lease.

The budget and finance committee hopes to have the comparison available at the March 26 meeting.