Schools looking to expand budget

The Southern York County School District is considering a 10 percent increase in the distict’s technology budget for the next fiscal year.

The district’s teachers asked for $1.3 million in technology requests for next year, more than six times the $200,000 earmarked for that use in this year’s budget, Jay Miller, management information director, told the school board at last Thursday’s meeting.

The requests range from computer labs to handhelds to software programs, he said.

Because the total technology budget covering both new acquisitions and ongoing costs has remained stagnant at $400,000 since the 2003-2004 school year, Miller said, a large gap is developing between what the district should be spending and what the district is spending on technology.

Miller and his staff are trying to stretch the district’s technology as far as possible, he said. The district’s 1,500 computers serve 3,700 users, and the department is working to re-configure old machines for the middle school and streamline Internet conductivity through one DSL line in order to maximize the techological capacity available.

In addition, the district received a $10,000 grant to fund a wireless computer lab at Shrewsbury Elementary School. But Miller said securing additional grants will be difficult because Southern York is not considered a district in need.

A 10 percent increase would make next year’s technology budget about $450,000, a “great gesture,” Miller said.

Technology is currently being integrated in the school district in many ways, Miller said, from electronic grade books and report cards to using computers to determine athletic eligibility and the amount of money spent on a school lunch.

The preliminary budget increase of 10 percent for technology is twice as much as the increase for other departments, according to school board secretary Dale R. Keagy.

In other business:

--- The board is considering changing the eligibility date for kindergarten so that children must be 5 years old by Sept. 1 to begin kindergarten. The change is a result of findings that show children who begin kindergarten before their fifth birthdays are at a developmental disadvantage and do not perform as well in school.  Previously, children could enter kindergarten if they turned 5 before Sept. 30.

--- The board unanimously approved a three-year agreement to lease Coleman Farms in Shrewsbury Township. The land will be leased to Rehmeyer Farms of New Freedom for $10,000.

--- School board president James H. Joy presented C. Dianne Masimore with a certificate from the Chamber of Commerce honoring her 10 years of service to the school board.

--- The next school board meeting will be at 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 16, in the administrative office conference room.