District approves laptop program

High school students enrolled in the Fairfield Community School District could be in for a shiny new surprise, thanks to a new lease/purchase agreement between the district and Apple Technology Company.

?This is huge!? said school superintendent Laurie Noll about the more than 650 MacBook Air laptops that will soon be distributed to every high school student and K-12 teacher in the district.

?The board approved this Monday night,? Noll said. ?This is being paid for out of our technology budget and the Physical Plant Equipment Levy.?

The master lease/purchase agreement is a four-year long contract, which allows the district to pay for equipment via annual installments of $165,395.38.

The total lease is a little more than $640,000, and the program includes some upgrades as the systems change.

The 1:1 Apple program allows each high school student to borrow an 11-inch MacBook Air that he or she would keep during the school year. Teachers will receive 13-inch machines.

?Students will be able to take these home and do their homework; even if they don?t have Internet access, they can download their homework assignments before they leave school, or they can use Wi-Fi ? that?s big. It?s been a long-time coming. This is very exciting for our students, and it will be beneficial in the learning process.?

District technology director John Grunwald said the district would likely be able to expand the program into other grades after the four-year period.

?We would be able to sell back the equipment after the four years,? Grunwald said, explaining that Apple works with third parties that would buy back the used systems.

?At the end of the four years, if we sold them off, we should make enough money to cover a new lease payment on the new systems ? this helps make it a little more sustainable,? Grunwald said.

Grunwald said the district?s 135 teachers would obtain their equipment prior to students and receive training in order to get a head start on working with the new technology.

Teachers will also receive training through Apple?s professional development program.

?Our plan is to get these out to the students in January,? Grunwald said.  ?This will help our students become better prepared for their future jobs and meeting those 21st Century standards,? Noll said.

The district plans to pay its first installment Sept. 9.

In other news, the district is taking steps to provide air conditioning at one of its elementary buildings.

?We?re currently going through a feasibility study,? Noll said, adding that Pence Elementary School would likely be the candidate, since its entire electrical system is older, and the school?s equipment is in marginal shape.

Although none of the elementary schools in the district currently have air conditioning, Noll said of the three elementary schools, Pence?s heating system is the least efficient ? only operating at 60 percent.

?The system is old, and the electrical panel is maxed out,? she said. ?The company that the system was purchased from is no longer in business. ?Our facilities department has really done a nice job of keeping things going.?

Pence has the largest campus of the three elementary schools in the district, and the cost of a new HVAC and electrical systems, which would include lighting and electrical panels, ranges between $4.6 million and $4.9 million.

?The feasibility study would also help us know what we can afford,? Noll said.

The study would help determine which of the three HVAC systems would best suit the building, and those are geothermal, heat pump cooling system and variable refrigerant flow.

Noll said the district would pay for the feasibility study upfront, but that Alliant Energy would reimburse 50 percent of the costs. Noll said if the district followed the study?s recommendations, Alliant would foot the entire bill for the study.

?Alliant wants what is best for the building,? she said. ?When we replace things, we will be able to cool the building for the same price as heating the building. The high school students were able to concentrate and have good learning last year due to their new HVAC system. We want to provide the same environment for our elementary school students.?

The district is working with Shive-Hattery Inc. of Iowa City.

?They installed the system at the middle school,? Noll said.

If approved by the board, the new system would likely be installed by the spring of 2017.

The district is hosting an open house for its new 21st Century room from 5-8 p.m. Thursday at FHS.

?It?s open to the public; we want to show it off,? Noll said.