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Austintown spends $1.1 million to outfit grades 6-12 with tablets
By ROBERT CONNELLY
AUSTINTOWN
Austintown schools have spent about $1.1 million for computer tablets for students in grades six through 12.
That cost, provided by district Treasurer Mary Ann Herschel, includes buying 3,000 tablets, carts to hold them, and software costs, such as programs used to block inappropriate Internet websites.
Tom Ventresco, technology coordinator for the district, gave a short presentation on the tablets at Tuesday’s board of education meeting that reiterated many points he made at a board meeting July 22.
The main reasons for the purchase by the district are to better equip students for online testing as state tests shift to that direction, and to bridge the technology gap between the new buildings and the older Fitch High School.
“We feel that’s going to give our students a huge advantage ... they’re on the way,” Ventresco said.
“We’re going to roll them out by grade, and there’s going to be an insurance fee that we’re going to ask parents to pay and we’re going to dissolve the general fee in lieu of that.”
Though that insurance fee hasn’t been decided yet, district officials talked about possibly charging $50 for insurance at the July 22 board meeting.
Students in kindergarten through fifth grade will use the tablet carts that already had been in place in district buildings.
Superintendent Vincent Colaluca said 720 tablets are housed in the carts and transported between the classrooms.
Also at Tuesday night’s board meeting, district officials honored Charles Wilson, a Vietnam War veteran, with an Honorary Veterans Diploma for the Class of 1967.