Setting the Record Straight

Dear Mrs. Pokorny,

I wanted to set the record straight since it appears you have been taking great joy in promulgating half truths.

First of all, thanks to the wonderful teachers that volunteered to open their classrooms for board members to see the state of the technology program already in place. It took almost six weeks and multiple requests before Dr. Fredisdorf allowed board members access into the classrooms. We were given one day to observe 14 class sessions, at two different buildings, with several of the sessions overlapping at the same time. All this on a day when more than half the students were absent from classrooms due to a middle school field trip. These factors certainly suggest that there must be something to hide. Perhaps you can provide another explanation. 

During the visit I observed the sad state of our technology program. There were insufficient laptops, some over five years old, with broken parts, slow to start, missing passwords, on carts that were not user friendly, chugging along on a pathetic infrastructure; in other words, a program that resembles one found in a third world country. It leads one to ask, why did it take so long for our administration to recognize this need? Unfortunately, even with new laptops, we'll still lag behind not only our neighboring districts, but districts that have far fewer resources such as Berwyn/Cicero, Markham and Joliet. It is something our school administration should be ashamed of. 

In 2011, Pleasantdale submitted a three year technology integration plan as required by the Illinois State Board of Education. Incidentally, when Dr. Fredisdorf was asked to explain this plan at the May board meeting, he could not so much as answer one question. He also attempted to avoid public questioning of the technology proposal by requesting board members contact him via phone or meet in private, thus skirting the premise of fair, open and transparent government. 

Dr. Fredisdorf stated that if we did not make this laptop purchase immediately, "kids will get hurt!" Yet nowhere in the district's three year technology integration plan does it mention the great need for laptops that he spoke of. This plan was written in 2011 and resubmitted in October. Why wasn't the need to purchase almost half a million dollars in laptops indicated in the plan? If you read through the 76 pages you documents, you will  see no mention of a need for 400+ laptops. You also won't see a proposal to spend almost a half a million dollars on them in one year, let alone three years. The largest budgeted expenditure for laptops was less than $2,500 per year. In addition, the plan mentioned starting out with a pilot program supposedly to gauge what would be best for our district, yet this was never implemented. 

When Dr. Fredisdorf was asked for discussion and research notes he stated this request "will take members of the Technology Committee considerable time and effort to retrieve" and that he was "concerned about this detracting from their daily responsibilities working directly with students and teachers." I also requested to see documentation or notes from the many team meetings that were held amongst the teachers and research that was conducted, yet was never provided with this. He was asked several times to explain how he got from point A (the technology integration plan with no mention of a dire need for laptops) to point B (kids are going to get hurt if we don't buy these now) yet couldn't.

The residents of this district elected me to represent them, not to look out for the best interest of someone seeking to put a feather in their cap. I will not apologize for doing my due diligence when it comes to seeking what is in the best interest of the entire district. I will not vote on an issue unless I have done all that I can do to thoroughy research, query, understand and finally agree or disagree with an action item. 

While speaking with staff members, the resounding message I received was the lack of support and training for the technology we currently have in place. With just two technology specialists and over 400 new laptops, this situation will undoubtedly get worse. In order to fully realize the potential of these new laptops as well as the Promethean Boards we currently have, the district will need to consider hiring a technology coach or facilitator. Again, this was never mentioned in the technology proposal or addressed by Dr. Fredisdorf when asked. 

Not only do our teachers have a lack of support, they have been given no clear goals on what to do with the technology once it is in place. In many classrooms, the Promethean Boards are not being used to their full potential. To go out and purchase close to a half million dollars worth of laptops, with little support, zero goals and no plan of how they are going to be tied into the curriculum is basically putting the cart before the horse and a tremendous waste. As an administrator, this is something that should have been planned out in advance. 

I did NOT have a problem with updating our laptops; I saw the need firsthand. I was one of only two board members that gave up their time to step inside a classroom and see the situation. I had many concerns with the proposed plan including the purchase price of each laptop. In my opinion, we could have outfitted the entire student body from grades three to eight with their own personal devices for the amount being spent on a few hundred. In addition, I honestly doubt these new laptops are going to last five plus years on a one year warranty. I believe we are going to be back in the same boat we are in right now, in less than four years. If students were taught respect and responsibility especially toward technology, they would be much better prepared for their futures and the district could have the option of spending the extra funds proposed for durability towards serving more children. When I shared theses ideas with several technology specialists, they agreed.

I caution you to think before making untrue, uneducated and unprofessional comments. As the record clearly will show, my opinion was that new laptops were needed, but I did not agree with the proposed plan. That is why I chose to abstain from the vote. 

In the future please contact me directly rather than making statements to staff that I "don't understand the importance of technology and need to get with the times." On the contrary, as I always strive to do, I have done a great deal of  research to make sure that I am educated about this topic. I would be happy to share my sources of information so that you too can understand the big picture and contribute more productively to these decisions. 

Sincerely,

Gina Scaletta-Nelson