TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Devices, Union Don't Click

ADVERTISEMENT

By RONNIE BLAIR

rblair@tampatrib.com

Published: November 9, 2008

LAND O' LAKES - Pasco County schools are moving forward with a plan to buy hand-held electronic devices that aid in test-taking and data-gathering, but it's a decision that doesn't sit well with the union that represents school employees.

"This is more money for something many perceive to be a luxury item," Lynne Webb, president of United School Employees of Pasco, told the school board last week.

The board approved a contract Tuesday to buy the student responders, also referred to as clickers, produced by a Texas-based company called eInstruction. The contract is for three years, but it must be renewed at the end of each year.

The school district expects to spend $100,000 on responders in the first year. The money comes from a federal grant and from the district's capital funds.

The students plug their answers into the responders, which are roughly the size of a television remote control. The answers are then fed into a computer, enabling teachers and district administrators to know within minutes how well the students performed and what areas require further instruction.

The devices quickly provide educators a wealth of data that otherwise might have taken days or weeks to compile.

Webb said the purchase might not be the best use of school-district money at a time when the district faces a tight budget and is anticipating additional funding cuts from the state.

It's also a time when the school district and the union have been unable to reach a contract agreement because of economic issues.

Superintendent Heather Fiorentino defended the purchase. The school board has advocated end-of-semester exams for high schools, and the clickers are one way to reduce some of the extra work those exams will bring, she said.

She also said that the money to buy the devices does not come from the budget's general revenue, which pays for employee salaries and day-to-day operation of the schools.

Under the contract, the school district will pay $1,995 for each clicker bundle pack. A bundle comes with 32 clickers. The initial purchase will be for 40 bundles.

That's not enough to put one in each school - much less one in the hands of all 63,000 students. The district wants clickers in all the high schools, though.

In addition to the clickers, computer software is needed to run the system. Under the contract, the district could provide the software to all schools in the county for one year for $20,000. However, the purchase of every 30 clicker bundles comes with one year's use of the software.

The district has experimented with the responders at several schools, including Pasco Elementary, Chasco Elementary, Land O' Lakes High and Wesley Chapel High.

Reporter Ronnie Blair can be reached at (813) 948-4218.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT