Students at area private schools use issued laptops. Good to know Ladue could be next. Folks, this is the age of technology, nothing short of that will do.

Students at private schools are not "issued" laptops and they are certainly not "issued" Macbook Airs, the Mercedes Benz of laptops. They are "leased." The parents pay for them. This is just another example of the "takers" who want everything for free. What's next? Should we pay for Elmer's Glueall and protractors? I am not against them having computers. I just think the parents should pay for them. A lease program spread over a number of years would be very affordable and arrangements could be made for those who truly couldn't afford them. If this "program" was already in place before the election, why didn't the board make it part of the discussion? Because they knew the outrage that would follow, that's why. Another "too cute by half," move that always backfires. This is a glaring example of why half the school district distrusts the board.

Although this initiative would be great, we need to remember that we are NOT a private school and that we do have limited funds. We have to "live within our means." In one of the student projects shown at the meeting (and referenced above) the student wrote about herself "In 17 years, I have been to 22 states and 5 countries." I think families who are able to provide that amount of travel are also able to provide their children with laptops. This is a perfect example of something that could be parent funded. Raise the $$$ privately to fund the total cost of this initiative (total cost has yet to be determined) and then provide the laptops to all.

I will also note that I was at this meeting. The Tech. Committee would actually like this implemented in the 2012-13 school year. What they SAID was that if we do not get this approved ASAP, the NEXT best opportunity to implement (due to lease agreements) would be 2016-17. So this IS being pushed for 2012-13. If you don't agree with this expenditure at this time, I encourage you to write the entire school board at once by emailing to ladueboard@ladueschools.net

I agree with Fly Overland. I think parents should either pay for/or lease the computers. That way, the school can offer the latest and best technology, without a hit to the tax payers. Good idea.

My son's (parochial) high school is issuing iPad 3s, through a grant; however, we pay $200 a year for a "tech fee" or whatever they're calling it. On the other hand, many of his textbooks are included on that iPad.

I know Pattonville issues laptops, too, but I don't know the type or cost, etc.

Absolutely. Although not all parents can afford this, most can. There are enough parents willing to donate enough funds to cover the costs of laptops for all. If we continue to expect everything for our children but we parents keep going to the taxpayers rather than funding some of these things privately....then we have brought the criticism upon ourselves and we have brought on the "no" votes next time our district needs additional funds for legitimate reasons. I think most agree this tech initiative can be a great thing. But it needs to be funded by the parents.

It is true that to advance learning so Ladue students can be prepared for advancing the now global economic future of the US in business, everone of them should be required to own a laptop. If mandated by the school would parents then demand the district provide every student with a laptop? Colleges now mandate students must have a laptop. So mandate all students to have one for school use.

So, Bill, are you saying you agree that this tech initiative should be funded through private donations?

I hear what the teachers and the technology staff are saying, they want to open the possibility of teaching and student learning without limitations of sharing computers in the lab and to teach in a way that will open up the world to the students. I believe students and citizens in many countries know way more about the U.S. than the students and citizens of the U.S. know about them. Those countries are preparing their students for a global future after high school. Are we teaching our students the same? I don't know if school issued laptops are the way to go, but I am all for better education and more global awareness across the board.

One last thought, I believe when people live in an affluent community such as Ladue with people who make enough money to provide whatever their kids need, it is often not understood that there are some parents that can not. And I believe that the committee presenting the laptop proposal said they wanted level the access to technology for all students, thus the reason for the proposal. Again, I am not for or against it, just something to think about. And another thought, is the cost of the laptop really the issue? or is it the fact that tax dollars may be spent for this? Which is greater, the tax dollars or the cost of buying your child or children a laptop? Something else to keep in mind, schools get funding from sources other than tax money.

I am only stating what was said in the school board meeting that is the reason for offering laptops at no charge.

As yes, you are correct the schools funding is primarily through tax dollars, AND a small portion through state and federal funding. As someone else stated above, perhaps a grant could help fund this.

Rhonda. First of all, the Technology Committee is absolutely asking that the Tech. Initiative be approved ASAP and started in the 2012-13 school year. There was NOTHING confusing about that in the board meeting. They do not yet have their numbers crunched and they cannot yet tell us how much this initiative will actually cost, but they are asking for speedy approval. Also, as far as I can tell, there is no specific curriculum in place yet to begin teaching students if the initiative were approved at this time. What the Tech. Committee SAID was that they would like this approved NOW for implementation in the 2012-13 school year. They stated that if we "miss this window of opportunity" the NEXT best "opportunity" to implement this would be 2016-17 due to different lease agreements. So hopefully that is now clear. They are asking for this NOW, not in 2016.
Secondly. I understand that global awareness is a good thing and technology can aid in that. However, should we then argue that it is "unfair" that some kids in the district travel internationally with their families, therefore getting "hands on global awareness" and therefore conclude that tax dollars should be spent to send ALL kids in the district on international travels? Even spending the tax dollars on trips for kids who could afford it on their own? Surely not. This should be parent-funded and subsidized for those who can truly not afford it as flyoverland suggests.

Rhonda, I guess a more direct example would be....do YOU personally want to write a check to buy a laptop for someone who, at 17, has already been fortunate enough to travel to 22 states and 5 countries? Or do you think that person can probably afford their own laptop expense? Raising private funds to make the technology available to ALL is GREAT but subsidizing people who do NOT need to be subsidized is wrong.

Just to clarify something…not all private schools have a 1-1 laptop program. I attended a secondary school admission night recently, and a question was asked of Andy Abbott of John Burroughs why JBS doesn’t have a 1-1 laptop program. In a nutshell, he said his experience has been that kids with laptops in the classroom aren’t as engaged in classroom discussion as those without laptops. The laptop becomes a barrier to an engaging conversation between the teacher and students, and of the students amongst themselves.

The reality is that in the year 2012 children who attend schools without 1-1 laptop programs make more effective use of technology by the age of 14 than their parents who are successful business professionals do at age 45. If you don’t believe me, watch how quickly your 12 year old will figure out how to connect his Xbox to your home WiFi network. How many of us have asked our kids to set up our new IPhone or troubleshoot our computer for us? To imply that the LSD needs to spend $250K on laptops so that its graduates will be able to create an effective PowerPoint presentation for their first internship at age 19 insults the intelligence of anyone who is a parent with a child under the age of 20.

I’m sure the recent Burroughs graduates who suffered through 6 years without 1-1 laptops will have no trouble in the 'real' world.

Jill, I must have missed the statement made about them wanting to approve it asap. Because what I heard Rob Highfill say is that they are not asking for an approval at the meeting, and that they plan to put together a more concrete proposal.

mjf: The actual dollar amount spent is more than $250K. It was said that after they figure the cost and subtract the savings in not having to update existing hardware, printing costs that can now be eliminated (according to their plan) and calculator cost that according to their plan will not be purchased due to an app that the students would use on their laptop, the actual cost for hardware is lowered to the $250K.

This is a comment I received in my email from a reader/viewer. I am copying and pasting it in this comment box. And this, I believe, was the hope for the experience students would have that the committee shared Monday night. Whether it should be school funded or parent funded is a different matter.

Here are B_Y_thompson's comments PART ONE:
Can't get my comment to post: Just completed a 4-year lease of a "tablet/pc" through our child's school, We paid $620 annually for "leasing cost, damage insurance, software and technical maintenance" (loss and theft are not covered under this agreement, so lessee would be held responsible) Optional purchase was allowed at the end of the leasing term for the residual value of $175. As previously stated, the value of equal access to today's technology and the endless opportunities for learning experiences in a global society are enormous proponents to the argument of why we should provide our students (in any school environment) with this kind of experience and enrichment.

This is a comment I received in my email from a reader/viewer. I am copying and pasting it in this comment box.

Here are B_Y_thompson's comments PART TWO:
Over the past four years I was amazed at what my child could achieve: The tablet allowed the students to retain all of their notes along with teachers' notes from every class (smart boards are used in the classrooms. Also this is the advantage of a tablet over a laptop - you write on it with a stylus). If a child was absent, they still were able to follow what had been covered in the classroom. They could also blog the teacher and their classmates, discussing the material and raising new questions. All information was saved on the server, so nothing was "lost." (Dog can no longer eat homework!) The teachers were able to follow each student's class work individually by selecting an individual's screen for viewing, thus seeing if the student was grasping the material or needed more instruction in a particular area. Classes could be held across the world, including students from another country in discussions ranging from politics and government to scientific discoveries. Material worked on in school could be taken home to be continued. Entire textbooks with updated information are loaded on the computer, keeping textbook costs down and material relevancy current. (Many scholastic publishers are switching over to e-texts.)

This is a comment I received in my email from a reader/viewer. I am copying and pasting it in this comment box.

Here are B_Y_thompson's comments PART THREE:

School districts need to determine how they are going to keep up with modern technology and keep their students' education "competitive" with the rest of the world. Initial costs may seem prohibitive now, but in the long-run the lack of qualified learning materials will be far more costly to our society.

The price for an IBM laptop at MICDS is about half of that. They keep the computers for four years, perhaps this was three.

I am still confused about this "global" business. what does having a computer have to do with global travel?

I agree with mjf. My daughter could load software when she was three years old. I doubt there are any kids who are not computer literate. This is not about introducing kids to computers, its about a new way of teaching. Having been exposed to this program for about five years, I would say it has advantages, it is also, as noted above, different. Different is not always better. The school with the highest ACT scores in the area does not use computers. I will leave that debate to others. The issue here isn't so much of whether it is a good idea, but whether parents should get another free ride, or pay legitimate fees for their kids. If a computer is a fact of life in 2013, it should be a legitimate expense for parents, just like other school supplies. For a school district that is so allegedly broke all the time, this should be a no-brainer.

Burroughs is unquestionably the best academic high school in the region and it does not distribute laptops for in-class use. Seems to me that Ladue, and every other school in the region for that matter, should be taking their cues from Burroughs.

I don't think anyone is arguing that technology is a bad thing to offer. I think most of us agree it would be great to provide our high school students with this. What I think some of you are missing when you discuss the benefits of technology is that tech isn't the ONLY beneficial thing we can offer our students. There are MOUNTAINS of hard facts supporting smaller elementary class sizes. Smaller class sizes affect the very FOUNDATION of learning for our students. First we need to read and do math at or above grade level. If you can't read or comprehend what you read effectivley....a computer is not going to help you. When we spend our tax dollars on things like this tech initiative, we take money out of the budget which otherwise could be used to do other things, such as bring class sizes back down. We have been told that the district is not willing to allow parents to help fund teachers' salaries. We CAN fund technology with private donations. This tech initiative is a PERFECT example of something parents can step up on and provide for the district/students WITHOUT taking precious funds out of our stretched district budget. Making this a privately-funded initiative is, in my mind, a no-brainer.

Jill,
I am sure that the school would not turn down the offer for parents to fund this initiative.

Rhonda, I hope you are right! Having parents fund this is the only responsible thing to do. I will gladly foot the entire cost of laptops/software/maintenance for my 3 kids when they get to the HS. Right now I'm just hoping we can save our tax dollars to work on the basics...like returning class sizes to preferred levels. Most parents in the district can afford a laptop but NONE of us can buy our kids a better teacher/studen ratio. That is the district's responsibility and they should not nickle and dime the budget away on other initiatives until they get the basics covered and covered to Ladue's standards.

Do parents of Ladue HS support mandatory use of laptops by every student for class teaching? My vote is yes what is yours? Ok then, the best way to have up to date technology is through a two year lease program and mass leasing gets a lower equipment price. So now how is the program funded? This is what needs options presented because we all want the best education possible for our children. Lets get the cost facts then ask for ideas on funding as it may be a 50/50 effort if technology needs to be standardized and updated every two years to be current. What is the cost for such a much needed laptop technology education program?

DL I could not agree with you more. I believe the district is GROSSLY underestimating the true cost of this initiative. I have 3 kids, all of whom we plan to send all the way through Ladue schools. My opinion is that it is so morally and fundamentally WRONG for me or any other Ladue district parent to put our hands out and ask the taxpayers to fund laptops. We have enough discretionary spending money in our households. If supporters of this initiative want this then they need to go out and WORK to raise the fund privately. None of this 50/50 nonsense.....100% parent funded or we don't do it is my opinion

Flyoverland, that is sweet of you to say. I think being on the school board is a tough job and I'm not sure I would be willing to take that on while my kids are still so young. Also I highly doubt I would be electable as I've ruffled plenty of feathers within the Ladue Mommy set.

Creve coer dad. You have the wrong impression about me on so many levels. I have said if concerned parents want to go out and work to fundraise to cover these costs with private donations then it would be great to provide this technology to all students. I have never and would never refer to specific areas of the district as "the hood" the way you have. I also am not hiding behind a screen name as you are. I do not think the administration is stupid but I absolutely believe they do not yet know the true costs of this initiative. You speak of people on a fixed and tight budget so surely you are aware that MANY of the taxpayers are on limited and fixed incomes and neither you nor I should be asking the taxpayers to buy our kids each their own computer. This is a great opportunity for parents to help our kids and our district.

Working together right? By 50/50 I was not implying district or the tax payers need to pay for laptops!!!!! It is a program both parents and the school district need to support so all students have equal technology. If district works through a parents as teachers panel leasing is a option through grants, business support, donations, private fund raising and yes parents participate in the lease program at a equal rate signing and paying for the reduced rate lease. It could be set up even as a lease to purchase for those who elect that option for handing down. But as technology advances every two or so years lease should start over with up to date equipment funded the same way. All students need equal technology so parents just buying without a program of 50/50 coordination or one that is not built on the district's diversity policy would not be fare to teachers.

Sorry for my misunderstanding Bill. I completely agree this tech initiative should happen and that it must be equally available to all students. My point has always been that I do not believe the district/taxpayers should foot ANY of the bill. I believe grants, donations, etc are the way this should be done.

Creve Coeur dad. I have thought long and hard about you personally attackIng me rather than engaging in a mature debate of the issue at hand. Frankly it really pisses me off. Looking up the value of my home and my husband's job title and using that limited information to judge me is discriminatory, wrong and frankly, extremely creepy. Let me educate you since you're curious. My parents were high school sweethearts from small town Iowa. They worked their way through college and made every opportunity for themselves. They raised me with those small town values. My father in law was a truck driver. My husband began working as a janitor at age 14. My husband paid his own way through college, worked his tail off and is today a very bright and successful CFO. I drive a minivan, not a luxury SUV. My family works just as hard as your family and we will not apologize for having what we have. I believe very strongly that each child deserves opportunity. I have said I believe funding this tech initiative for ALL the kids through private donations given willingly is a great idea. Forcing taxpayers to fund this is, in my opinion, wrong. YOU are the one here judging people based on income, not I. You need to rethink your bitterness and discriminatory attitude and I think you need to quit hiding behind your screen name if you are going to attack people on a personal level. That is shameful.

Wah, wah, wah! I didn't look anything up on you, you spread it all over the place. And for someone who claims to have formerly worked in public relations, you certainly know how to make people mad at you - on this site, LPIE, at school, in the administration, and on the school board. Yet you seem to revel in it, and blame everyone else for having a "problem". I've got news for you, it's you, not them.

No, you shouldn't have to apologize for what you've got, but I don't care about your background either. It doesn't make you any more noble than if you had inherited the money. However, you are pretty single-minded on reducing class sizes in kindergarten/1st grade at the expense of everything else. The only things you've ever come out in support of are things that benefit your kids - you've opposed practically everything else. The tech initiative is a HS level program, but you're opposed to spending district money on it - as usual, just like clockwork.

Quite frankly, for all your passion, you're terribly ineffective because everyone has tuned you out. A "mature debate" with you is impossible because it seems you're in love with the sound of your own voice, you always know best. Of course you're entitled to your opinion; it's just that you have the annoying habit of constantly reminding us of what it is – small elementary class sizes. A little compromise and patience would go a long way to achieving what you, and the rest of us want.

If that's a personal attack, so be it.

I own my opinions and I don't hide behind a screen name. What's your name? Or do you prefer to attack via anonymity? Think what you will of me. I'm not trying to win a popularity contest. I'm advocating for my kids. Every parent should advocate for their children.

All these fake names are Jack Klobnak, former owner of LaserVision Centers in St. Louis.

Patch has learned that Jack Klobnak is not Creve Coeur Dad. I issue the sincerest apology for getting that wrong. I agree that Klobnak is Flyoverland, and we will just leave it there.

O.k. CC Dad. Last time I respond because I won't continue to defend myself personally, I want to stick to the issues. First of all....I have mainly been advocating for smaller class sizes in the elementary schools. That is true. There are mountains of studies backing me up on the value of smaller elementary school class sizes. Elementary is the very FOUNDATION of all of our children's educations. If we screw it up at that level, it doesn't matter what we offer later, the kids will never catch up. Our district has 1,765 elementary students. That is 40% of the district. I am not just advocating for MY child. Am I outspoken, yes. Can I be annoying, hell yes. Are there people who don't like me, absolutely. Good thing I'm not running for Homecoming Queen. I'm advocating for the kids. In the last few months I have met with several leaders in the district, board members, administrators. I have had conversations with teachers in the district. I have started working with LEF. I have given them several new fundraising ideas, at least one of which I understand they have started working on already. I am an active volunteer at Reed, LECC and have just begun volunteering with LEF. One thing I am NOT is ineffective. I have said I will personally donate to any fundraising efforts in support of the tech program. I support our district and, yes, I am outspoken. I will not stop. I am affecting change. Naysay all you want. Winning you over is not part of my goal.

Think about how you are making these comments did you use a Laptop, did you use a desktop, did you use a smart phone or other type of device? Laptop or Dual Core Technology smart phone for me. Technology is always changing, just think about what it was like five years ago; much less 10 or 15 years ago. So students have much more change in education due to technology than we as parents ever experienced. I am proud of the Ladue School District for even evaluating such a forward thinking technology program. It shows that my kids have been provided a top rated education in what is recognized as a "leading edge" teaching environment nationally. Just check it out on the internet about what educators and rating sources say regarding the Ladue School District nationally.