School Board Member Wants iPad for Each PW Student

Coles District School Board Member Dr. Michael Otaigbe would like to see every Prince William County student receive an iPad.

Following the presentation of the results of the division-wide survey on measurable objectives at the Oct. 16 school board meeting, Dr. Michael Otaigbe of the Coles District declared that the school division should strive to equip all county students with iPads.

“Our neighbor to the north, the new Fairfax superintendent, has promised iPads—included with an Adult Coloring app—for all students,” he said. “I don’t want us to be left behind.”

However, before Associate Superintendent of Student Learning and Accountability Tim Healey could respond, Chairman-at-Large Milt Johns interjected, saying, “We need Fairfax’s budget.”

Healey agreed with Johns that the school division cannot issue every student an iPad because of budgetary limitations. He said:

I don’t know if we’re at that point yet budgetary or otherwise, but I know that the instructional aspect of the school division, the technology side of the school division, our mission is the same: to infuse technology as much as we can that’s appropriate that gets kids excited about their school work, that gets them to be creative thinkers and problem solvers. However, we can get technology to do that and to make the curriculum come alive and be more relevant and prepare them for the world of work; we’re behind 100 percent. We are going to continue going in that direction.

Furthermore, Healey said central office staff, especially one high-tech expert, are working on “the cusps of instructional technology” to help teachers feel more comfortable infusing technology into their lessons.

The Prince William County School Board has often expressed concern over their difficulty funding necessary budgetary items: reductions in class sizes, teacher salaries increases and the building of new schools; therefore, finding money for such an initiative would be difficult.

According to Superintendent of Schools Dr. Steven Walts, while they may not have room in their budget to issue every student an iPad, the school division did recently received a large grant which provided iPads for 2,000 special needs students.

Walts said that Prince William County Schools has adopted a Bring-Your-Own-Device Policy, which allows students to bring their laptops and tablet computers to school for educational purposes.

“And for those who don’t have a device, we make sure they can use the ones that we provide,” he said.