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To continue with instruction regardless of possible COVID-19 restrictions in the fall, Montoursville school board discussed the need to spend about $500,000 on technology at the end of the month during a virtual special meeting Thursday.
No decision was made, but board members' opinions were divided.
Known as one-to-one learning, where each student has a laptop or other device that they're responsible for, about 1,200 laptops would need to be purchased to allow the district to teach remotely and equitably.
Chromebooks, a type of laptop, are favored by the district for it's relatively affordable cost and capability.
"A decision would need to be made relatively quickly because of the time that would be necessary to receive the Chromebooks, as well as to do the professional development," said Christina Bason, superintendent.
About 500 laptops are currently being used by the district. Each new laptop costs about $275, though discounts may be available.
The school board would need to spend $426,000 to $550,000, depending on if they hired another information technology specialist to provide support to the more than 2,000 laptops, which could be used by the students and teachers, according to the prior meeting.
The money may also go to connecting students to the internet, said Bason.
"The district for Montoursville is 186-square-miles, and at this time we believe approximately 20 to 40 miles are covered with viable internet," she said.
While Montoursville Area School District was allowed to finish this year with enrichment and review, the state Department of Education has made it clear that there must be planned instruction in the fall, she said.
Recently, Bason said she spoke with Amy Pastorak, assistant director of the state Bureau of Special Education.
"She was going to ask on our behalf to see if there was any monies that would be available for us, that we could be allotted since we are a district with such vast demographics," she said.
The district could also look into creating their own cyber school to regain other students who have opted for utilizing other cyber schools, she said.
Justin Jones, a teacher at C.E. McCall Middle School, who teaches an online summer school courses to high school students demonstrated what an online course would look like to the school board.
"What I've done is extend my classroom beyond the physical borders of the walls of my room," he said. "Kids can reach out and contact me through Google Classroom, we can have both private discussions through Google classrooms if they have questions about an assignment or something like that or we can have an entire classroom discussion."
The programs he's used to supplement his class are ones that he's had to use exclusively and Jones said he has had a large amount of success with keeping students engaged.
"I hope you realize that it's an opportunity," he said. "Yes, it will get us past that problem but it's an opportunity to allow our district to catch up with many other districts, and, get us to a point where we're in a better spot than ever before."
If the board were to choose not to purchase the laptops, there were no alternatives suggested by either Jones or Sebastian Peipher, lead network administrator, for instruction.
Should the district fail to teach students for at least 180 days next year, then they will lose part of their more than $9 million state funding for special and basic education, said Bason.
Board members Ronald Snell and Daniel Albert said they were hesitant to vote for the laptops, because their lifetime is only about six years.
"I can't wrap my head around this," said Albert. "I cannot imagine having this chrome book for 6 years and having to scratch it and start over again. That just blows my mind."
"It's going to be very difficult for many people to grasp this," he added.
"It's going to be a recurring cost," Snell said, meaning that the district will have to continually purchase new Chromebooks.
Jenn Marriot said she didn't want the district to be unable to further childrens' education again.
"None of us have a crystal ball to know what the future holds, all I know is that this completely caught us off guard, and we were completely unprepared," she said. "We cannot be unprepared for the next time."
All members were present.
The next meeting is scheduled to occur virtually at 7 p.m. Tuesday. A link is available on the Montoursville Area School District website.