Ways to pay for technology, as indicated by the task force.

After studying technology issues for more than a year, an LA Unified task force this week offered their ideas for the district after the botched iPad debacle that was supposed to result in one computer device in every student’s hands.

The price tag would be $311 million for “a 1:1 environment,” providing every student with a tablet or laptop, but the Instructional Technology Initiative Task Force also explained how much the district has already done in a year in their comprehensive report issued Tuesday and presented to the school board.

For example, 749 school sites have had full wireless infrastructure added this year, and 89 Early Educational Center sites will get it by the end of next school year, according to the report. Bandwidth in the district expanded to 119 gigabits, nearly double from a year ago.

More than 160,000 iPads, Chromebooks and Windows devices have been distributed to the schools since 2013.

“We are aware that as soon as we pressed the button to print this out, it is all out of date,” said Frances Gipson, who was put in charge of the task force last year by former Superintendent Ramon Cortines. “The world has changed by the time we do it.”

Superintendent Michelle King praised the more than 50 teachers, principals, parents, students, community computer experts, business people and administrators who were part of the task force and met every Thursday for the past year to work on the instructional technology issues facing the district.

“They met in small groups and large groups and even virtually to see how it can be done and have given us some principal-driven recommendations,” King said.

The task force in action during the Cortines administration.

The task force suggested ways of paying for the plan through bond funds, textbook funds, external partners and leasing devices, as well as having students bring their own devices to school to use for classwork. They also identified problems with the existing computer distribution devices, such as keeping track of them.

The recommendations involve the students being self-directed and the teachers being able to design their own instruction. They suggested avoiding a one-size-fits-all approach and emphasized flexible learning environments and a personalized approach. The recommendations include support for teachers and tools to identify effectiveness so there is consistent learning in all areas of the district.

“I would like to know what we would need to implement this,” said board member Monica Garcia. “What I see is us closing the digital divide that separates our families from others.”

Board President Steve Zimmer suggested the district look at how the devices could be used in the students’ homes. He said he would like to see all students being bilingual and also be able to write code for computers.

Board member Monica Ratliff said she thinks this should get to all the high schools as soon as possible and hopes the training for the teachers would not create too much of an extra burden for them.

The ideas and recommendations will continue to be collected on a free publishing platform called Scalar, said Sophia Mendoza from the task force.

“We knew the minute we printed it, it was out of date because of the rapid nature of technology,” Mendoza said. “This platform allows us to build out the recommendations as they change.”

The superintendent is now reviewing the recommendations and determining how to implement them.

Concerned by a slew of problems with the district’s new student management computer system, board member Tamar Galatzan said today she is asking the district’s Inspector General to conduct an audit of the defective rollout.

“I demand to know what happened and how this got so messed up,” she told LA School Report. “Because until it happened, the board had no inkling that the system wasn’t ready to go live.”

Galtazan, who made her request in writing to Ken Bramlett this afternoon, added, “After the payroll fiasco of a number of years ago, the board tried to put safeguards in place so we wouldn’t go live with a system that didn’t work. Clearly, that didn’t happen here, and we need to know who’s responsible for it.”

She says the board received little information about the progress and development of the comprehensive system over the last year.

“I can’t remember the last time we got an update on the program . . . and we don’t supervise anyone who works for the superintendent, which is who was running it,” Galatzan said.

Among other things, she asks Bramlett to include in his audit:

• Reasons the new system was put into place without a backup.
• A financial summary of the program.
• A review of the management and implementation by LA Unified employees and contractors as well as how third-party contractors were sourced.
• A breakdown of the problems reported at school sites.
• Recommendations to avoid the same kinds of problems in future technology projects.

In response to continued complaints about the glitchy system that continues to derail efforts to enroll kids in the right classes, LA Unified officials now say, less than 1 percent of students have been affected by the series of technical snafus.

“Students at the vast majority of LAUSD schools are in class and learning how to read, write, think and speak for success,” the district said in a statement today.

By the district’s own math, that leaves about 6,500 students who have yet to be assigned classes, teachers, counselors, and a host of other services.

The system, called MiSiS — My Integrated Student Information System — is designed to track every aspect of a student’s academic lifecycle by consolidating a variety of existing computer programs. The one-stop-shop is supposed to monitor everything from grades to health records to daily attendance.

However, while the district tries to solve a series backend problems, teachers have been instructed to track attendance the old fashioned way — with pen and paper — through August 22, which is 10 days into the new academic year.

“At times, the system has been slower than expected. We’ve asked teachers to take attendance offline — for now,” reads the statement.

Lydia Ramos, director of communications for the district, said, “Attendance will be input either by teachers, front office or support staff. Instructions will go out at the appropriate time.”

Beyond the immediate repercussions of disenfranchisement by having students miss the first week of school, their exclusion could have a significant impact on the district’s bottom line, which relies on student attendance for federal and state dollars. Every day that a child is not in school, or is not recorded as being in school, means less money for the district.

Again, Ramos, says the district is on top of it. “We will not risk losing money in the short term.”

Previous Posts: Teachers union says computer glitch cost students first day; Teachers in panic over LAUSD’s new computer tracking system

* Includes details of Galatzan’s request to the Inspector General.

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