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Rochester school board cuts IT staff [Post-Bulletin, Rochester, Minn.](Post-Bulletin (Rochester, MN) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Oct. 22--As Rochester Public Schools officials prepare for an expansion of a one-to-one technology initiative, 17 members of its technology support staff were notified last week that their jobs would be eliminated effective Jan. 23. Questioned about the move, Rochester Superintendent Michael Munoz told Rochester School Board members Tuesday that the layoffs were part of a restructuring of the technology department "as we move forward into the digital learning initiative." Since the restructuring involved new titles with new responsibilities, the district was required to post the new jobs and eliminate the old ones. "In order to promote a fair hiring process, we can encourage all of them to apply," Munoz said. "We can't say that we're going to favor one candidate over the other. We do anticipate that some of them will apply." One-to-one technology initiatives call for each student to be issued an electronic device -- in this case iPads -- in order to access the Internet, digital course materials and digital textbooks. Included in the layoffs were Sarah Dudas, the district's technology coordinator; Lora Holman, software support supervisor; and 15 employees of the workstation support services and software deployment division. The 17 employees constituted a majority of the 31-member tech support staff. The new positions, which are expected to have a cost-neutral impact on the district's budget, begin on Jan. 26. The discussion about the layoffs was precipitated by board member Gary Smith, who requested the proposal be pulled from the consent agenda. After the explanation provided by Munoz, the board voted unanimously to approve the layoffs. The decision came as the board moved forward with plans to implement a one-to-one first-phase expansion that would cover six more schools. It agreed to seek bids for the purchase of nearly 3,500 iPad devices with cases at an estimated cost of $1.4 million. Those bids are expected to be presented to the board at a special session on Nov. 11. The goal, officials say, is to have those iPad tablets in the hands of students at the start of second semester. By 2017-18, all of Rochester's more than 17,000 students will be using an iPad as a basic tool in their classroom work, officials say. Currently, only Longfellow Elementary School has a school-wide one-to-one program where every student works with a tablet. The planned expansion covers six schools, including Pinewood, Riverside Central and Gage elementary schools, Lincoln K-8 Choice School, and Willow Creek and Friedell middle schools. Also, 35 teachers or teams of teachers at the high school level applied to receive iPads for use in their classrooms. All those applications were honored, communications director Heather Nessler said. The Alternative Learning Center also will be one-to-one, she said. "We will be deploying the devices to the staff first" at the elementary and middle school level, Nessler told the board, "so there is significant professional development prior to the students receiving the devices." Even as expansion moved forward, board members quizzed district administrators about one-to-one's impact on the budget. The district already is spending more than it receives in revenue, and board member Gary Smith wanted to know whether this would increase the size of budget reductions two years from now. "Are we getting ourselves in a position where we're going to be choosing between iPads and teachers?" Gary Smith asked. "We all know that the teachers are the most important thing in the classroom, that technology is the tool to help the teacher." Larry Smith, the district's executive director of finance, expressed confidence that the district had the first year of the expansion covered, but as it entered year two, three and four, it would need a "source of ongoing dollars from which to pay for these." "Every year, when we develop a budget, we look for efficiencies, things that we'll do differently to save dollars," Larry Smith said. "And I think we'll have to do that as we develop the budget for the next several years to fit the cost of these iPads." Officials had estimated the cost of buying 3,480 devices with cases to be nearly $1.7 million, but a $100 per unit reduction in their cost will lower that to about $1.4 million. Altogether, the four-year cost of the program, including training, apps, staff support and others costs, hovers about $2.9 million. Although officials have indicated their preference for purchasing the iPad Air, some board members urged district administrators to get estimates on a version of the iPad mini for purposes of price comparison. As a first-phase expansion moved closer, board member Julie Workman appeared to pump the brakes, advising flexibility, especially at the high school level, where some teachers have students bring their own devices or laptops from home. "I guess my concern is, I don't want to see a whole bunch of iPads, especially at the high school level, sitting in a box and not be used," she said. Munoz said the district would remain flexible, but also noted that officials had explored the bring-your-own device model and found it wanting in a couple of particulars. He also stressed that as iPads or mobile devices become a basic tool in classrooms, teachers will be expected to use them. "We're going to provide support to make that happen, so I do not have a concern that (iPads) are going to be sitting in the closet," Munoz said. And in (year) 17, 18, it's going to be districtwide. If you work for Rochester schools, this is going to happen." ___ (c)2014 the Post-Bulletin Visit the Post-Bulletin at www.postbulletin.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |