ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, March 10, 1997 TAG: 9703100012
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
Some Roanoke schools are haves and others are have-nots when it comes to student computers.
When it comes to computers, not all schools in Roanoke are equal. And some might have to wait several years to achieve parity.
At William Fleming High, there is nearly one computer for every two students. The school has 650 computers for 1,426 students.
Patrick Henry High has one computer for every nine students - 200 computers for 1,769 students.
A similar disparity exists in many elementary schools. Highland Park has one computer for every four pupils; Garden City has one for every 12.
The reason?
School officials cite federal magnet grants as the biggest cause of variations in the student-to-computer ratios.
Roanoke has received nearly $20 million in federal funds for magnet schools in the past decade. Much of the money has been spent on computers, labs and other technology for magnet schools.
The student-to-computer ratio at seven of the city's 10 federally funded magnet schools is 5:1 or better. Educators nationwide consider 5:1 to be a desirable ratio.
Rita Bishop, Roanoke's assistant superintendent for instruction, said computers purchased with magnet money can't be moved to other schools. So William Fleming can't share its computers with Patrick Henry.
Some School Board members have voiced concern about the computer disparity.
"Do you have some in the pipeline for Patrick Henry?" Brian Wishneff recently asked Bishop.
School officials will buy more computers for Patrick Henry as money becomes available, she said, but she gave no timetable.
Roanoke has only three federally funded magnet schools with a student-to-computer ratio above 5:1: Fairview Elementary, Roanoke Academy for Science and Mathematics, and Westside Elementary.
In addition to the availability of magnet money, Bishop said, the schools' individual technology plans, the training of the teaching staff and other factors affect the number of computers at a school.
Superintendent Wayne Harris said community and neighborhood organizations have provided money to buy additional computers for some schools.
Sixteen of the city's 21 elementary schools have not reached the 5:1 ratio, but several are close. The city needs an additional 477 computers to achieve the target ratio in all elementary schools.
Bishop said 240 of the needed computers will be moved to elementary schools during the next two years, when Woodrow Wilson and Addison middle schools are renovated and equipped with new technology.
The city will have to buy 237 computers to reach the 5:1 ratio in elementary schools. One option would be portable computers costing less than $700 a unit, she said.
"We hope to reach the 5:1 ratio in all schools as rapidly as possible," Bishop said.
But that could take two years or longer in some elementary schools, because Addison won't be closed until the 1998-99 school year and its computers won't be moved to elementary schools until then.
Except for Patrick Henry, the ratio is better in middle and high schools.
Soon, all middle schools will have a ratio of 5:1 or better. James Madison is the only middle school with a worse ratio, but the School Board recently approved a bid to buy it more computers in the next two months.
The ratio also is low in three specialized high school programs: CITY School, Noel C. Taylor Learning Academy and Roanoke Valley Governor's School for Science and Technology.
The governor's school, a regional program for seven school systems, has one computer for every two students.
School officials have developed a transition plan for shifting gradually from Apple Macintosh units at some schools to IBM-compatible computers with Windows operating systems.
But there would be no wholesale replacement of Macintoshs at all schools; that would cost an estimated $7 million.
Board member John Saunders has pressed for a transition plan because of Apple Computer's financial troubles and its declining market share. He said it's irresponsible to keep buying Apple products when the company's long-term financial viability is in doubt.
But Apple executives said the company remains strong and has experienced no decline in sales to schools. Six of every 10 computers in schools nationwide were made by Apple.
Under the transition plan, Breckinridge, Woodrow Wilson and Addison middle schools would become IBM-compatible schools using Windows when they reopen after renovation.
At William Fleming and Patrick Henry, school officials would acquire Windows computers for new projects but would keep Macintoshs for existing programs.
The long-range computer plan for the high schools would be developed during a two-year renovation study to begin in September, Bishop said. The CITY School and Governor's School would keep their Macintoshs, and Noel C. Taylor Academy would keep its Windows computers.
All elementary schools have Macintosh computers that students and teachers seem to like, Bishop said. She cited several reasons for keeping Macintoshs at the elementary level:
It would be difficult to have two different types of computers in the same classroom. Macintoshs have proven durable for daily classroom use.
70 percent of the city's elementary teachers have completed training in Macintoshs.
Replacing the Apple computers would cost $2.6 million; Macintoshs that are purchased now will last five to seven years.
Macintoshs are expected to remain viable for the long term because Motorola, a Fortune 500 company, owns the license for the Mac operating system.
Bishop said there is still another financial reason for sticking with Apple in elementary schools: Based on current prices, a Macintosh is about $450 cheaper than a comparable Windows unit.
Still, school officials will look into the possibility of switching to Windows computers in some elementary schools that feed into Breckinridge, Woodrow Wilson and Addison middle schools, Harris said.
This could help prepare students for the technology they will use in the sixth, seventh and eighth grades, he said.
Making a change in the type of computers in the schools is more complicated than it might appear, Wishneff said. "It's too big of an issue to turn on and off like a light switch."
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