Education Matters US

Last night the Grayslake District 46 school board approved purchasing SMART boards.

District 46 board members agreed Monday night the SMART boards were a good educational tool in a pilot project that ran for nearly the final two months of the academic year. They voted to pay $33,041 to keep the nine SMART boards from the test program.

In addition, another 14 of the devices are expected to come to District 46 with about $71,000 obtained through a state education grant.

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Manufactured by SMART Technologies, the board is a high-tech version of a blackboard connected to a computer. Board members received a firsthand look at the SMART device during a presentation by three principals May 19.

Some District 46 administrators reported becoming interested in the SMART boards after attending a conference last December in South Carolina sponsored by Blue Ribbon Schools of Excellence Inc. District 46 paid $22,192 to South Carolina-based Blue Ribbon to study its buildings and make recommendations.

Notice when the district became interested in these boards. They became interested in them at a conference where they were given Blue Ribbon Awards after they paid the company to review the schools. These awards essentially cost the district just over $40,000 and buying equipment recommended at the conference.