Saugus School Committee members receive iPads

SAUGUS – School Committee members were recently given new iPads at a cost of around $500 each from the superintendent, a decision that has left some members questioning whether the expense is worth it with the school budget already tight.”Is that expenditure of $2,500 going to help the Saugus students in our schools?” asked School Committee member Arthur Grabowski. “My answer to that is no. I think it’s a nice thing to have. I’ve had it for two weeks. It’s convenient, but it’s certainly not a necessity.”School Committee member Joseph Malone said it’s too soon to tell if the iPads will actually save money in the long run.”With a tight budget we’re looking to pinch every penny,” said Malone. “They’re saying it’s an effort to go paperless, but I’d have to see how much money it would save on paper to make a determination. I would think the students would come first before the School Committee obviously. Sometimes when we talk about cutting sports like cross country, that $2,500 can come in handy, but if it saves money it’s definitely worthwhile.”Grabowski acknowledged that the packets School Committee members receive before each meeting are “pretty lengthy,” but said the money or the iPads could be better served in other areas of the school.”If I find there was one program, one special needs kid, or one area of the school that needed an iPad, I would have said no to it and I would give mine up in a heartbeat,” said Grabowski. “I have an old laptop computer at home that’s 6 years old that can do the same thing as this.”Anne Fletcher, President of the Belmonte Middle School Parent Teacher Organization, said she doesn’t think it’s fair that the School Committee would get iPads when her PTO recently paid for five of them for special needs students.”It should go to the teachers for the special needs department,” said Fletcher. “Eventually I think all the teachers should have iPads. Why does the School Committee need iPads? It’s not going to help the kids. Special needs children could hugely benefit from them.”Fletcher acknowledged that the superintendent has invested a lot in technology for the Belmonte, but said the money the PTO spent on the iPads could have been used for something else.”The superintendent has helped a lot,” said Fletcher. “He definitely has added more smart boards and a lot of new technology toward the school. Most of the PTO money goes back to the kids, and we’ve been adding all kinds of new electronics and technology for the kids.”Sam Rippin, Executive Director of Finance and Operations, said the iPads are funded through the School Committee’s expense account, and would eliminate costs associated with copies and labor, including having a member of the custodial staff deliver the packets to each School Committee member.Grabowski, however, said he didn’t know the iPads came from the School Committee account and was angry to learn that they were.”We didn’t authorize that to come out of the school committee account,” said Grabowski.”As far as I’m concerned, my iPad is going back.””The thought process was over time it would save in copy costs,” Rippin said. “Will it pay for it? Maybe, maybe not. I think the bigger issue is it will let them do their job more efficiently and effectively having this tool.”With around 20 School Committee meetings per year with five members and an average 100-page packet each, Rippin estimated the iPads could potentially save around 10,000 pieces of paper.”The payback might be a couple of years maybe, but again, that was only part of the reason,” Rippin said.School Committee member Rick Doucette called the iPads an “experiment” and said the School Committee will see “where it goes.””The key is they’re not ours,” Doucette said. “They belong to the school so if it doesn’t work the school always has the opportunity to take them and use them somewhere else. They haven’t been given to us, they’re on loan.”School Committee Chairman Wendy Reed said the iPads will help when it comes to large report