Highland View ES Action Alert

Working copiers or Promethean Boards: the Highland View ES PTA notes the irony:

Families at Highland View Elementary School, in Montgomery County, Maryland, were urged in an Action Alert dated February 3, 2009, to contact the members of the Board of Education concerning certain budget recommendations. The Action Alert included Talking Points so that families could advocate effectively for resources for their school. Talking Point number 3 is reproduced here in its entirety:

The recommendation to replace old copiers with refurbished copiers that will be maintained in-house by MCPS while at the same time cutting the budget for the maintenance department and operations will impact performance, morale and efficiency. This cut is unacceptable and will directly impact homework, instruction and operational efficiency of teachers and staff within our school.

Background: In an effort to cut outside contract costs, the budget proposes replacing old copy machines with refurbished equipment which is more likely to breakdown. Moreover, the recommendation seeks to terminate outside repair contractors instead making copy machine equipment repairs part of the maintenance department’s responsibilities. This is all the while simultaneously cutting funding for the maintenance and operations.

The irony is that while we are struggling to keep functioning copiers that are essential to the business of our school and classrooms, MCPS has invested millions in high-tech Promethean Boards.

Bottom line, our teachers and kids depend on a functioning copier that can be fixed in a timely manner. Outsourcing repair and replacing copiers with high quality equipment is a priority. At HVES our copier machine has been a problem for years. This has already impacted our children’s access to teaching materials and resources – our staff and front office spend countless hours trying to keep our copier functioning.

(end of quote)

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Millions of dollars for Promethean Boards, or a working copier for all schools? Did the public have a chance to weigh in on this choice before the thousands of Promethean Boards were "leased" and installed?