State School Baord Representative Takes Questions

Anita Weston, Reporter

Rich Civic Times

RANDOLPH, Utah.  September 24, 2014.  The State School Board Representative for the northern part of the state, Terryl Warner, was in attendance at the School Board meeting.  She was given time to speak to the group; ask questions, and use the time given to her anyway that she would like. 

She noted that information is being gathered concerning the one-on-one issue.  She wanted to know how it was working out to have one computer for each student in a classroom.  Apparently the State School Board is considering requesting a billion dollars from the legislature to adopt this program throughout the State.

She was informed that currently each student from the sixth grade through high school in Rich County has a school computer.  This was made possible by the District using trust land monies.  These monies are received each year and were saved until computers could be purchased.  Along with computers, however, are several other expenses and items that need to be taken into consideration before the program could be successful. 

Several years prior to getting the money to purchase the computers, money was spent on the backbone—the part of the system that handles all the computer traffic that would result from having that many individuals connecting to the various programs and computer servers at one time.  Also time, effort, and research were expended looking for software packages that would support the curriculum.  Software is not cheap.  Separate packages are required for each subject along with multiple copies so that all may participate. 

Funding is also needed for training of teachers.  Teachers must be able to know the software prior to trying to walk students through getting into the program, how it works, where review problems can be found, when and where tests can be found and taken, how work is to be sent to the teacher, and so forth.  Not a small matter. 

The program Canvas was purchased to help in retrieving and sending assignments and information back and forth between the computer station and the teacher’s station.  This program is used by most colleges and universities and gives the students a head start at university when they are already familiar with being able retrieve and submit their work.

There was concern about filtering out anything that was not appropriate for the students.  Special filtering programs have been put in place.  In addition, other software packages are required that block students from playing games, surfing the web, going to Facebook and other social media sites, and so forth.  The computer is to be used for school work and learning of specific subjects and not to be used for personal enjoyment.  The program selected to do this is called Stoneware and is quite expensive but currently seems to be doing a good job.

Students are allowed to take the computers home and work on their homework there.  However, they must sign onto the school system to do so.  Thus, all extraneous items are filtered out the same as if they were at school.

It was emphasized that the selection of software and computer brands will become a real problem if the State decides to mandate what can be used.  If they select something different than what many schools are currently using, all of the money and effort that has gone into the current systems at various schools will be unusable.  That’s a tremendous amount of time, money, and effort that will be lost.

Right now, many vendors are still in the process of getting programs and software written to handle various subjects.  They are not ready in all areas of the curriculum.

It was also noted, that giving students younger than sixth grade is not a good idea.  Students need a bit more maturity in order to be able to really take advantage of machine capabilities.

Mrs. Warner reported to the Board that the search for a new State School Superintendent is in the interviewing stage.  She noted that she had not been told any of the names of applicants.  There is a meeting to be held in about two weeks where the Board Members will have the opportunity to visit with the four selected candidates and vote for who they decide will handle the job the best.  She noted that currently it appeared that the individuals being considered have a political background—not an educational background.  She personally feels that the individual in that position should have taught in the classroom and had some administrative experience in the education area.  Apparently, that is not what is currently being considered. 

Principals Motta and Larsen both expressed a concern to her about the way test scores from the various schools will be handled.  In the past few years, the CRT tests have been given to the students and comparisons made among schools.  However, last year a pilot test, called Sage, was used.  Because it was used for the first time, there is no way it can be compared with scores from the other exam.  They are completely different tests.  However, from everything that has been said, it appears that the State School Office is saying that the scores on the Sage Test are really low.  That statement doesn’t make sense.  Hopefully, citizens will be told that the scores are not low; they are just different than the results from other tests given in the past.