Dateline: November 8, 2007

Clarendon ISD making technological leap 

Laptops for most students and a campus-wide wireless network will thrust the Clarendon school system fully into the 21st century next fall.

The Clarendon ISD Board of Trustees voted unanimously last Monday night to implement a One-To-One education initiative that school officials say will put technology in the hands of students 24/7.

“Every child from fifth to the 12th grade will have their own laptop computer and will basically have access to information anytime,” Superintendent Monty Hysinger said.

The school has been studying the One-To-One idea for about two years, and Hysinger formed a special committee to look at it in depth last spring. Clarendon specifically looked to Floydada and Highland Park as examples to go by.

“We polled our teachers. Eighty percent returned the survey, and 98 percent of those supported the idea,” Hysinger said.

Today’s kids are already adept at multi-tasking, and technology is second nature to them, the superintendent said. The initiative also is reflective of the demand in today’s labor market for skilled employees who are not only productive but also creative.

“We want to change the concept of kids just being receivers of information,” Hysinger said. “We want to teach kids to filter and produce information.”

CISD will budget $150,000 to $175,000 per year to lease about 400 Apple MacBooks. Additionally, the school will spend between $150,000 and $200,000 up front to install a new Cisco wireless network that will be accessible throughout the junior high and high school.

Every classroom will become a virtual computer lab as One-To-One takes the first step toward the possible elimination of the traditional textbook.

The initiative will begin in a week or two with the acquisition of MacBooks for teachers, which will be followed by several days of training over the next year.

Then over the spring and summer, CISD will build a new technology facility west of the Administration Building that is expected to cost between $800,000 and $1 million, which officials say they can build with no tax increase. The 6,500 square-foot center will house the district’s video conferencing room, its servers and network equipment, and a large workroom.

Students will then receive their MacBooks next fall in either September or October, Hysinger said. Loaners will be available when one of the laptops has a problem, and parents will be asked to spend $50 on an insurance policy in case the computer is damaged.

“With the first claim, the school will split the deductible with the parents,” Hysinger said. “The second claim, the parents pay the deductible; and after the third claim, the student will no longer be allowed to take the laptop home.”

Hysinger said the school hopes One-To-One will open a world of opportunity to economically disadvantaged kids, and he believes the initiative will benefit all students by better preparing them for college or the workplace.

“We also think that this program – like our new Pre Kindergarten program – will be something that will attract people to live in Clarendon,” Hysinger said.