Sales+Pitch

=Sales Pitch=

As Warwick students aim to keep pace with demands of the 21st century, their use of technology in classroom learning is imperative to their success in their community and their personal lives. Stated within the district’s strategic plan, the mission of the Warwick School District is to enable all students to acquire the knowledge, skills, and values necessary to become responsible, productive, and resourceful citizens.

In alliance with this mission, and according to the district technology report for 2009-2012, It is clear that we must continue to provide the instructional technology tools needed to design technology-enriched learning environments that can be accessed by students anytime, anywhere to meet the needs of students at all levels. We need to utilize technology to improve communication for all district stakeholders. We must also maintain the technology necessary to help provide a safe and secure environment for all students and staff members.

Until now, financial support for this goal has been provided directly by the Pennsylvania Department of Education’s Classrooms for the Future initiative that was designed to move schools into 21st century learning environments to be known as school 2.0. To create and promote this mode of education, the state awarded grants to schools for the purchase of laptops for students and teachers. These grants were awarded over a three-year period ; Warwick was in the first wave when eleven carts consisting of 30 Apple Mac notebooks were purchased in 2006 and another four carts were purchased in 2007. Then in 2010, the district funded the additional purchase/replacement of five additional carts to pursue a one-to-one initiative.

Presently, the laptops first purchased in 2006 are now in need of maintenance and/or upgrade, since the expected lifetime of a notebook is four to five years, particularly in terms of battery usage and processing. While the state continued to supply grant funds for the CFF initiative, which may have been applied for replacement of these notebooks, the recent and drastic cuts in the present state budget now makes each district fiscally responsible for laptop upkeep. For this year alone, the state has cut $525,855 in block grants to Warwick.

To continue in achieving the district’s instructional goals while keeping costs at a minimum and remaining responsible and accountable to the taxpayers, we propose that replacement, in yearly phases, will best maintain the student ratio- to- computer use with minimal disruption to the academic schedule.

While refurbishing the current laptops is an alternative proposal, the ultimate is inevitable: All notebooks, to be at maximum efficiency, will need to be replaced or completely over-hauled. A cost comparison of just minimum replacement parts shows the initial investment as less costly, but further parts will need replacement in the next year, and simply result in a sum total nearly equal to complete replacement.

However, the proposal is not just a matter of spending money now, the plan is also to preserve the efficiency and care of the computers. Thus, the proposal also includes a training component for both staff and students to ensure increased battery life and preventative maintenance. The composition of this component is based on voluntary participation and only adds to the value of the proposal.

The design of this proposal including specific goals, costs, action steps, and full implementation are now to be presented.

Leasing Refurbish Costs