District Technology Budget
I have had the opportunity to discuss technology development with three Christian School administrators: Alan Hodak from Grace Christian School in Watervliet; Tim Gehle from First Assembly Christian School in Portage; and Keith McAdams from Tri-Unity Christian Senior High School in Wyoming. Each of these administrators said their schools do not have a technology budget. From my experience working in a Christian school and having my husband on the school board, this is very common. Rather than budgeting for that type of expense, Christian schools would typically seek alternative methods of financing those purchases. Alternative methods would include things such as special gifts targeted for specific purposes, collections, equipment donations, or fundraisers.
I also had the opportunity to talk with John Halak, the business manager from Mattawan Consolidated Schools and Michael Dudley, the principal at Mattawan High School about the technology budget and staff development budget for Mattawan Schools. The information I received from them was for the 1999-2000 school year.
Ø Tech support salaries for 11 employees $210,000
Ø New and replacement computer equipment 150,000
Ø Software 25,000
Ø Elementary school staff development budget* 20,150
*Conference and workshop budget for 35 primary teachers for all areas of staff development (distributed at the principal’s discretion on a first-come-first-serve basis).
At the time I spoke to Mr. Halak, Mattawan was awaiting a bond decision. He anticipated a $400,000 facility and infrastructure bond. From this, he believed they would increase hours for technology staff by 8-10%. He also thought that $150,000 would be targeted for new computer equipment.
High School staff development budget (all areas):
Ø General conference and workshop* 8,500
Ø In-service 5,000
Ø General expenses 2,000
Ø Administrative 4,000
*First-come-first-serve basis
The distribution of funds was at the discretion of Mr. Dudley at the high school. He targets new teachers who are required to log in 15 hours of staff development in their first 4 years with Mattawan. He said that technology development is a priority. Mattawan is currently seeking accreditation from North Central and that is a driving force for their development at this time. They are in the 5th year of a 5-year cycle of working with a steering committee and the North Central Accreditation Board. It will be interesting to see what happens after they complete their 5-year cycle and gain accreditation.