LearnPad distribution disparity addressed

With the allocation of $91,861 from the sale of property, the St. Mary Parish School Board agreed to purchase 229 LearnPads for District 1 students where there was a disparity in distribution of the iPad-like devices.
The devices are used primarily in elementary classrooms, putting a computer in each child’s hands. Teachers control what students can see and do on the device.
Prior to the approval, District 1, covering the Franklin area, had 26 percent of the 1,555 LearnPads in the parish with 405 deployed there, according to data released at the November meeting of the school board.
All three Franklin elementary schools — Foster, LaGrange and Hernandez — are scheduled to receive new LearnPads for its fourth- and fifth-grade classrooms, according to Amy Vaccarella, teacher facilitator of technology for the school system.
LearnPads in St. Mary Parish typically are distributed to elementary schools, but in District 1, both Franklin Junior High and B. Edward Boudreaux Middle School have the devices.
The other two elementary schools in District 1, Centerville and Raintree, were not to be addressed in this allocation.
Vaccarella and Superintendent Donald Aguillard said the funds came from the sale of the Crowell gym and cafeteria, located in Franklin, so the money was to be allocated there.
“The building was sold in the Franklin area, so they wanted to distribute the funds in the Franklin area,” Vaccarella said.
Board members representing Centerville and Raintree, Wayne Deslatte and Mary Lockley, were the most vocal previously on the matter concerning uneven distribution of LearnPads between areas of the parish. This resulted in all third-grade classrooms across the parish being outfitted with classroom sets of the devices.
Deslatte said he is not interested in using this money for LearnPads for his district because the money was generated by taxpayers of the western end of the parish, and he thinks it should stay with those students.
“Basically that money is generated outside of the district. The taxpayers of the western end built those old schools that we destroyed. They’re paying 20 or 30 mills to support the new schools. … So that money should stay in that taxing district. I still will be fighting for more LearnPads,” Deslatte said.
Lockley said she supports the distribution to the Franklin schools.
“I have no problem helping the Franklin schools if it’s a needed thing, not just a given,” Lockley said.
Aguillard said at the December meeting the agenda will contain an item re-examining the distribution of LearnPads and possibly purchasing more to give to Raintree with $35,000 that was never allocated from the sale of the Crowell building to the City of Franklin.
Prior to this month’s purchases, there were 130 LearnPads at Raintree, while the other elementaries and junior highs ranged between 25 and 68 each, according to information released at the November meeting.
Vaccarella said all third grades across the district have their allocation of LearnPads and training for teachers should be complete by the Christmas holidays.
She said the latest order could be delivered to schools in early January and training must be held before they are used in classrooms.
Students and teachers are excited about the devices, Vaccarella said, and that promotes their motivation to learn. She said research proves that the use of technology in the classroom promotes learning. The district is conducting its own study to learn the local effects of LearnPads in classrooms, she added.