South Berwyn School District 100 will get a bit of a makeover thanks to financial assistance approved by the City Council at its June 23 meeting.
The council unanimously approved the district’s request for $217,570 from the Ogden Avenue tax increment financing fund to help repair aging doors and windows and upgrade technology infrastructure at the LaVergne Education Center, 3401 S. Gunderson Ave. Assistant
Superintendent for Business Tim McGinnis said the money will be used to install energy-efficient windows and doors, and will help the district move forward with plans to install more than $600,000 worth of state-of-the art technology into District 100 classrooms.
“We’re going into a fairly major project, called SMART technology, that we’re going to be putting into every classroom,” McGinnis said. “These projects are primarily energy efficiency projects, and it’s something that’s going to improve the efficiency of the building, which is going to help the taxpayers.”
In addition to the building improvements, the district plans to add 76 SMART Boards to classrooms throughout the schools. The Smart Boards replace outdated chalk boards and projectors with a touch-sensitive white board and projector connected to an Apple Powerbook and software.
The technology provides teachers and students with constant access to the Internet and allows for a hands-on learning experience.
Currently, 18 classrooms are equipped with the technology and the district hopes to install them in all 137 classrooms by the end of the next school year, according to district spokesman Daniel Lane. The 76 included in the current proposal are expected to be operational in time for the beginning of the next school year.
McGinnis said some of the funding will come from the South Berwyn Education Foundation, which helped fund the first 18 Smart Boards. The district also is hoping to receive federal stimulus funds for the project.
In total, the district is planning on more than $1 million worth of technology and infrastructure improvements during the next couple of years, McGinnis said. Several of the district’s schools will be equipped with new computers and laptops to replace equipment in the outdated computer labs.
“You’re going to see things changing in the schools,” Lane said. “Things are a lot more upbeat.”
Lovero said some had expressed concern over whether the proposal was a legitimate use of TIF funds, which are designed to raise money for capital improvement projects, particularly in underdeveloped areas.
“A lot of those tax dollars are being taken from the schools (to fund the TIF district),” Lovero said. “I don’t see a problem giving back to the schools.”
