York schools plan $700,000 wireless upgrade, move to greater use of classroom technology
The York school district is planning a $700,000 upgrade to wireless technology in all its schools as it moves toward a greater use of classroom technology.
“This is the first step in going to some kind of one-to-one computer program,” said Assistant Superintendent Amy Hagner. “When we do this, we’ll have a wireless access point in every classroom at every school.”
As the wireless upgrade moves forward, a district technology committee will be formed to make recommendations on how York schools can best use wireless computers in its classrooms, said Superintendent Vernon Prosser.
The committee of principals, teachers and others will be asked to determine “what is the most effective thing that we can do with technology to make sure we help students engage in instruction and move academically,” Prosser said.
Prosser said the panel will also discuss staff training for the technology initiative.
Hagner said the district will pay for the wireless improvements with federal E-Rate money, which will cover 80 percent of the cost. The district has set aside $140,000 to cover the remaining 20 percent, she said.
E-Rate money is federal money collected through a universal service charge on telephone and cell phone bills. School districts and libraries can apply to use the money.
Hagner said York first applied to receive the federal money in 2013, but that request was not granted. It reapplied this year and the funding has been approved, she said.
The wireless installation will begin in early 2016, she said. “We anticipate the entire project to be complete by the end of this school year,” she said.
Ray Stemmer, the district’s technology director, said York schools have wireless technology in certain places, but it does not cover the entire building.
“We have access points scattered throughout every building,” Stemmer said. “Typically in the media center, office, cafeteria. And those schools that have an auditorium, they have it there.
“But it’s very scattered,” he said. “It doesn’t cover the majority of the building.”
Even the five-year-old York Comprehensive High School lacks complete wireless access, Stemmer said. The school was originally planned to be built with a wireless overlay, but that was scaled back to reduce the cost, he said.
When the wireless technology is upgraded, Stemmer said, “everyone can have access to wireless from any part of the building.”
Stemmer said the district has about 600 iPads for instruction as well as some laptops, and students at York One Academy have Chromebooks. However, the use has been hampered by a lack of wireless access in all classrooms.
“Most of those devices are on carts and checked out to be used in a classroom,” he said.
Prosser said he wants the committee to make recommendations for how the district should use technology in the classroom as it moves forward.
He said staff development will be an important part of that.
“We can put a bunch of devices in a classroom and the minute we do that without staff development, you are going to render a very effective teacher ineffective,” he said.
“The teacher training part cannot be missed, and that’s the part we want to make sure we get right,” he said. “When we get that part right, I think teachers can effectively used technology to deliver instruction and engage kids.”
Prosser said he expects the district may come up with some kind of “hybrid of a one-to-one program” that might involve using a variety of computer devices.
“We’ve gotten some pretty good use out of the carts,” he said, referring to computers on carts. “What has slowed us down a little bit is that the wireless access points are not throughout the building.”
This story was originally published November 25, 2015 at 3:02 PM with the headline "York schools plan $700,000 wireless upgrade, move to greater use of classroom technology."