At the January 13 regular meeting, Oxford Area Community Schools Board of Education approved a resolution allowing the district to apply for laptop computers through Michigan’s Freedom to Learn (FTL) program.
The Freedom to Learn program is an expansion of a pilot program begun in the 2002-2003 school year that provided $9.5 million to approved schools for wireless devices, technical support, professional development and curriculum development for sixth-grade students. This pilot program was initiated by Michigan Speaker of the House Rick Johnson.
The idea behind Freedom to Learn, a cooperative program between the Michigan Department of Education and Michigan Virtual University, is to bring wireless technology to sixth graders across the state, evenly distributing the technology and educational opportunities, regardless of individual family finances. The program can be expanded to other grade levels when appropriate, and any Michigan public school district or academy, or intermediate school district with qualified students can apply.
Governor Jennifer Granholm signed an educational bill in August of 2003 that provided $39 million to put laptops in the hands of Michigan’s 132,000 sixth graders. However, the program has since been delayed indefinitely by state and school district budget deficits.
Despite the delay, purely federal funding is still available for the program and state officials have moved ahead with accepting applications. Oxford Schools Technology Director Timothy Throne said that although Oxford Schools would not qualify for just the federal dollars, the school should be prepared in case the program is reinstated. The application deadline is at the end of this month.
“We don’t want to not apply and then find out the funding’s available, but we don’t have access,” explained Superintendent Virginia Brennan-Kyro to board members.
“If the funding becomes available, we definitely want our application in there,” agreed Throne. “Especially since getting computers in the hands of our students is one of our technology goals.”
However, participating in the program and receiving the wireless computers is not “free” for the district. According to the resolution, the school board “acknowledges that the total costs associated with implementing the FTL program may exceed the FTL grant award amount.” This could mean updating the district’s technology plan or providing training for staff who do not “demonstrate a minimum level of computer-related competency.”
Also, the board agreed in the resolution that if the district receives the grant monies, school officials will budget a $25 match for each FTL device received for each year of the program. This would translate into $100 per sixth grade student over the next four years.
According to Curriculum Director Karen Eckert, the extra costs may not stop there. She added during the meeting that the district may have to contribute an additional amount of around $62 per sixth grader for teacher professional development in relation to the program.
“It is not, as they like to put in the papers, ‘free’ computers,” she stated. “However, they are extremely affordable through this program.”
Oxford Schools is not committed to accepting any grant monies by applying through the program. District officials can withdraw the application at any point in the process.
“We can always decide down the road to opt out, but if we find this is the program for us, we want to have our application in there,” said Eckert.
School board members voted unanimously to pass the resolution and apply for the sixth grade laptop computers.