Technology panel divides funds among school districts

Cy Ryan and Ben Grove

Friday, May 15, 1998 | 10:10 a.m.

The Clark County School District is going to get $15.2 million in state funds for new technology but it won't be enough to reach the goal of one computer in every classroom.

"We don't think we can hit every classroom," said Jhone Ebert, the district's technology coordinator for secondary education. She added the district will use local and federal funds to stretch the state allocation.

Her comments came Thursday after the state Commission on Educational Technology divided $27.4 million among the 17 school districts, libraries and the two schools at the state reformatories.

Clark County -- home to 64.3 percent of the students in the state -- received 56.7 percent of the allocation. That means the school district will receive $79 per student, second lowest to Pershing County which will get $66 for each student. The state average is $90 per student.

Ebert and Carol Tipton said the technology commission had a hard job with so many requests and limited money, adding they did not think Clark County got shortchanged.

Tipton from Clark County told the commission, "We can work with the number ($15.2 million) and we'll redo our budget."

Statewide requests for technology funding totalled $44.6 million. Clark had asked for $22.4 million to buy computers for the nearly 10,000 classrooms, but came up $7.2 million short.

Tipton later said district officials knew they wouldn't get $22.4 million.

"They said build a grant based upon a need," she said. "Our need was $22 1/2 million."

Clark County Schools Superintendent Brian Cram advised school board members at Thursday night's regular board meeting to accept the $15.2 million being offered, or risk losing it. There was no chance of holding out for more, he said.

"I suggest we accept what the state says we can have," he said.

Commissioner John Snyder of Yerington said the allocation was "quite fair" with some extra money going to the smaller districts that need more help. He said he was happy to see the state Department of Education, which evaluated the requests, cut out some of the fat in the proposed budgets.

Commissioner Moise Denis of Las Vegas said the allocation means "our kids are going to win on this." He called it a fair apportionment and he encouraged the districts to work to find additional money for computers and other electronic items.

Marlene Lockard, director of the state Department of Information Technology, reported to the commission that two other computer manufacturers have offered to supply the units at reduced prices.

Last week she called vendors looking for bargain rates and found units meeting the standard for as low as $999. Some districts had been budgeting anywhere from $1,700 to $2,200 for each computer.

Sen. Bill O'Donnell, R-Las Vegas, a commission member, praised Lockard saying she "has been able to save the districts because of the leveraging of prices." It is estimated this shopping around saved $9 million.

The 1997 Legislature, at the request of Gov. Bob Miller, allocated $27.5 million for computers to advance the educational technology in schools.

Miller has pledged to eventually put five computers in every classroom. Tipton said this was the first time the state had budgeted so much money for technology for students.

"We were pleased to get it," she said.