Marble Falls school leaders looking at bonds for upgrading CTE and technology

DANIEL CLIFTON • PICAYUNE EDITOR

MARBLE FALLS — The summer break just started, but Marble Falls Independent School District officials are already planning for Nov. 5.

That date stands out because it is the next time MFISD leaders could set a bond election for improvements to the district’s Career and Technology Education program and general technology.

During a workshop June 10, administrators and trustees looked at prospective upgrades to both areas that could come with a $5.8 million price tag. One way to fund those projects would be through voter-approved bonds.

“We just want to drill down a little bit deeper,” MFISD superintendent Rob O’Connor told the attending board members. He added that the numbers discussed on the CTE side were raw figures offered by teachers and didn’t necessarily reflect what the final funding would end up as. “We asked each CTE teacher to prioritize what they feel would make (their program) be top notch.”

The district began looking at its CTE program last fall and formed a committee to review current offerings, student interests and industry needs. CTE describes course work such as agriculture sciences, engineering, construction technology, health science technology, audio visual technology and business and accounting.

MFISD director of secondary academic programs Eric Penrod went over the direction the district and committee believe the CTE program should proceed. These ideas included improvements to the animal science facilities, upgrades to the Marble Falls High School audio-visual program, building a greenhouse for horticulture classes and creating a metal fabrication program.

While the CTE program could include numerous career pathways, MFISD officials want to focus on those the district already has in place that have student interest and reflects industry needs. CTE classes give students a bridge into the workforce by helping them develop job skills and even industry certifications.

Penrod said the CTE program and courses must not only reflect current business practices in their areas but prepare for future business practices as well.

Trustee Craig Mabray pointed out the district can purchase all the top-of-the-line equipment it wants, but the driving force behind it comes down to personnel.

“(Things) don’t create a quality program,” he said. “What creates a quality program is leadership.”

Penrod and O’Connor concurred.

“I think it’s leadership and tapping into a person’s passion,” O’Connor said. “And it’s giving them a voice in creating the program to make it one of the best in the state.”

The CTE improvements and upgrades as discussed during the workshop would cost about $2.4 million, but O’Connor added those numbers still need vetting.

The board and administrators also discussed district-wide technology improvements that include the possibility of each secondary student checking out a laptop computer for the school year and elementary students accessing iPads.

MFISD executive director of financial services Wade Stanford said the technology recommendations would come with a price tag of about $3.4 million.

The first step in technology upgrades, he said, likely would be infrastructure improvements to campus and district network services. The ideal goal, Stanford told the board, was to build up the system’s capabilities to where it could support each student operating three wireless devices.

While that might sound rather extreme, he pointed out education is continuing to head in a direction with more reliance on devices such as laptops, tablets and even cell phones. It would be better to develop the infrastructure capability sooner than waiting until the district falls behind.

Mabray shared some concern with the student-to-device ratio.

“I want to make sure we’re investing right and planning for the future, but I don’t want us to overextend,” he said.

Stanford understood Mabray’s concern but felt if the district didn’t pursue a wireless network with the 1:3 capabilities, it would mean falling behind.

Trustee Karl Westerman pointed out all the laptops and tablets in the world won’t mean anything if there isn’t a network capable of supporting them.

“It’s the backbone of technology,” he said.

But it’s not just about new gadgets. O’Connor said the district also would have to increase staff development so teachers could find the best ways to implement technology into their classrooms. He added the district wouldn’t dictate to teachers what technology to use and how to use it.

“We want to them to use technology that helps them,” O’Connor said. “As a mindset, we’re not going to force uniformed classrooms.”

Even if the board calls for the bond and voters approve it, Stanford said the technology implementation would happen over three phases.

The board would have to call the bond election and set the amount no later than August to get it on the November ballot.

daniel@thepicayune.com