WBR schools buying ‘Promethean boards’
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PORT ALLEN — The West Baton Rouge Parish School Board voted unanimously Wednesday to buy 70 “Promethean boards” — electronic, Web-connected devices that mount on classroom walls — at a cost of $200,000.
School Superintendent David Corona said the interactive teaching devices will be placed in various schools throughout the parish at all grade levels.
They are in addition to 94 such boards the system purchased previously, most of which were acquired using state grant funds designated to improve literacy at four Port Allen schools.
Board member C.A. Altazan Jr. said one of the few good things from Hurricane Gustav was that it boosted sales tax revenue, giving the school system surplus funds to allow it buy such equipment.
“We’ve got enough money right now to do it,” said Altazan, a longtime board member.
“This is probably the healthiest I’ve ever seen the school system financially. We need to spend the money where it’s needed.”
In other business, officials with the vendor that provides bus transportation services for parish schools told board members they have hired more drivers and smoothed out many of the problems that plagued the transportation system during the first month of the school year.
Parents had complained that their children were dropped off late, dropped off at the wrong locations and sometimes not picked up at all.
Chris Pedde, regional operations manager for the vendor, Cincinnati-based First Student Inc., conceded that “we certainly had a rough start” due to problems caused by Gustav and other factors.
But Pedde said the company has moved aggressively to hire more drivers, offering $1,000 signing bonuses and $500 to drivers who refer others to sign up to drive buses. He said the company also brought in three 2009 model year buses.
“The average age of buses in the fleet is 3.3 years,” Pedde said. “With most other contracts, the average age is 7 to 8 years. You all have a young fleet compared to others.”
Corona, who was critical of First Student’s performance earlier this year, said he was confident it is doing all it can to hire additional drivers to make sure routes are covered and that substitute drivers are available as they are needed.
School Superintendent David Corona said the interactive teaching devices will be placed in various schools throughout the parish at all grade levels.
They are in addition to 94 such boards the system purchased previously, most of which were acquired using state grant funds designated to improve literacy at four Port Allen schools.
Board member C.A. Altazan Jr. said one of the few good things from Hurricane Gustav was that it boosted sales tax revenue, giving the school system surplus funds to allow it buy such equipment.
“We’ve got enough money right now to do it,” said Altazan, a longtime board member.
“This is probably the healthiest I’ve ever seen the school system financially. We need to spend the money where it’s needed.”
In other business, officials with the vendor that provides bus transportation services for parish schools told board members they have hired more drivers and smoothed out many of the problems that plagued the transportation system during the first month of the school year.
Parents had complained that their children were dropped off late, dropped off at the wrong locations and sometimes not picked up at all.
Chris Pedde, regional operations manager for the vendor, Cincinnati-based First Student Inc., conceded that “we certainly had a rough start” due to problems caused by Gustav and other factors.
But Pedde said the company has moved aggressively to hire more drivers, offering $1,000 signing bonuses and $500 to drivers who refer others to sign up to drive buses. He said the company also brought in three 2009 model year buses.
“The average age of buses in the fleet is 3.3 years,” Pedde said. “With most other contracts, the average age is 7 to 8 years. You all have a young fleet compared to others.”
Corona, who was critical of First Student’s performance earlier this year, said he was confident it is doing all it can to hire additional drivers to make sure routes are covered and that substitute drivers are available as they are needed.
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