No classroom left behind in Internet age

Every classroom in the Carson City School District not only has a computer, but also Internet service, as does every lab, thanks to state funds allocated for technology.

Now, in an annual report, the district needs to let the state's Commission on Education Technology see how the funds are being used at the schools. The report is due April 1.

"It's part of the NRS (Nevada Revised Statutes) that we have to present the information to the commission," said Mike Watty, associate superintendent of education. "It's really just a list of the computers at each school and in each lab and the pupil-to-computer ratio. It's so they know what has been done using the technology funds."

At Tuesday night's school board meeting, Watty will seek the board's approval to send the report to the commission. The meeting begins at 7 p.m. in the Sierra Room of the community center at 851 E. William St.

"There have been funds made available by the state for the past seven or eight years with the target of getting computers in every classroom that has Internet capability," Watty said. "We've had that now for five or six years."

Although every classroom in the district has a computer with Internet access, the number of students per computer with access varies from school to school.

"Some of the schools have purchased computers beyond what the district has purchased through the PTA or their own funds," Watty said.

At the high end of the spectrum are Pioneer High School, with 2.8 students per computer with Internet access; and Empire Elementary School, with 4.8 students per computer with Internet access. Pioneer's rate is high because of the night adult-education program that uses its building.

"Pioneer shares with the adult ed, and it's actually the adult ed that has purchased more of their computers," Watty said.

At the other end of the spectrum are Bordewich-Bray and Fremont elementary schools with 9.3 and 10.1 students per computer with Internet access, respectively.

Carson High School is somewhere in the middle, with 6.5 students per computer with Internet access.

"The high school and Empire have written grants that were technology specific," Watty said.

Although all 454 of the district's classrooms have Internet access, many of the computers and the e-mail system slow down in the mid-morning and early- to mid-afternoon because of the number of online users.

"Our main problem right now is our infrastructure," Watty said. "We have ample computers for a lot of the needs, but our ability to get on to the Internet and utilize it in a timely fashion is bogged down because of our T-lines. It's just not heavy-duty enough to carry the load."

Much of the computer infrastructure, like server switches, will be replaced or updated over the summer.

The district technology plan is on a three-year cycle, which comes to an end this year when a new committee will revise the technology goals for the next three years.

n Contact reporter Maggie O'Neill at moneill@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1219.