$5M allotted to buy new Chromebooks
The School Board for the Pulaski County Special School District has approved the purchase of new Chromebook computers for student use at a cost of just over $5.3 million.
The approximately 13,000 new devices will be a replacement for devices that are 3 years old and showing their age in terms of expired batteries and motherboards, Will Reid, the district's chief technology officer, told the School Board last week.
The new devices will have touch screens like a tablet or can be used as a laptop computer with a keyboard, Reid said.
The district will pay for the devices using the state aid it receives based on its percentage of students who qualify for subsidized school meals because of low family income.
It also will draw from the revenue generated by a property tax dedicated to supporting technology purchases.
Twinkle tale makes fifth-grader a star
Akire Williamson, 9, a fifth-grader at Murrell Taylor Elementary in the Jacksonville/North Pulaski School District, is the published author of a storybook, Twinkle, and an accompanying coloring book.
Akire told the state Board of Education last week that she wrote the story based on her own experiences of being routinely teased about her size.
The story is about a star -- Twinkle -- who runs away from her home in the heavens after being bullied for being small. The star lands on Earth and finds a friend who teaches her to stand up for herself.
"Don't Be a Bully/Be a Star" is the theme of the book that took Akire to a Washington, D.C., ceremony to receive the Love Forward Campaign's No Bullying Hero Award.
About 500 copies of the book have been printed and is available where books typically are sold.
Racial slurs denied in letter to board
Mike Kemp, a Pulaski County Special School District board member and mayor of Shannon Hills, said last week that he is innocent of breaking and entering charges pending against him in Saline County and of an allegation that he directed racial slurs to children.
In a written statement presented at a School Board meeting Monday, Kemp devoted particular attention to what he said was "the most offensive baseless allegation made against me," adding that "any racial comments attributed to me are simply not true."
"They are at their core extremely offensive to me and hurtful to my wonderfully blended family, of which there are multiple bi-racial members and I love them all unconditionally," he wrote.
Despite the statement, district and community leaders questioned Kemp's ability to act objectively on matters in the racially diverse school system.
Sen. Linda Chesterfield, D-Little Rock, told the board at a meeting the next day, Tuesday, that Kemp's statement "rings hollow" because she has observed how Kemp treated interim Superintendent Janice Warren and other employees in a condescending manner.
"People of color feel there is no justice before this School Board," Chesterfield said.
Pam Fitzgiven, a teacher and chairman of the district's Personnel Policies Committee for state licensed employees, called for Kemp "to do the right thing and resign" from his board position.
"If he doesn't, it is my hope the rest of you will do the right thing and do what it takes to make it happen," Fitzgiven told the board.
Metro on 06/17/2018