The rollout of a $ 1-billion school iPad program would be extended by a year under a new plan by the Los Angeles Unified School District, doubling the time originally allotted for getting tablets to every student.
The slow-down is a substantial concession by L.A. schools Supt. John Deasy to critics inside and outside the system who questioned whether the district has been pushing too fast in distributing about 650,000 devices to teachers and students.
Problems quickly emerged during efforts to provide the devices to 47 campuses this fall. At three high schools, more than 300 students deleted security filters and browsed unauthorized websites. As a result, all students were required to turn in tablets at these campuses; students at other campuses must use the devices only on school grounds. There also has been confusion over issues such as whether parents are liable for the iPads if they are lost or broken.
Deasy has defended the pace and scope of the program as a civil rights imperative: to give low-income students in his school system the same digital advantages as more prosperous families.
In the face of eroding support on the Board of Education, however, Deasy on Tuesday adopted a conciliatory tone.
“I am hopeful that this revised plan meets the concerns of board members over how best to provide our students with the technology they need to excel in the classroom and succeed in their careers,” Deasy said in a statement.
Deasy and Deputy Supt. Jaime Aquino told The Times they’ve decided that a slower pace will lead to a more effective result — logistically and academically.
Under the new plan, 36 additional campuses would receive iPads by April. Then, 450 campuses would get the devices the following school year. Remaining campuses would receive them by December 2015, a year later than previously planned.
As a result, tablets would not be widely available for new state standardized tests that will be given online this spring. Schools could use older computers instead and rotate students through computer labs as needed. And iPads also could be lent to schools for testing purposes, officials said.
Deasy said the new plan also includes speeding up training for teachers, so they are better prepared when the iPads arrive for students.
The district also will examine whether it needs to hire more staff or use trainers differently, Aquino said.
Even the revised schedule could prove ambitious in the nation’s second-largest school system. Deasy hopes to secure board approval for it at a meeting in December.
In a memo to the school board, the superintendent said that “we have experienced a high degree of criticism from public, external, and internal audiences…. We have received criticism about us moving too fast.”
At the same time, he said, “others feel we are moving too slowly in providing students access to educational technology.”
“Criticism is good,” he added, “in that it allows us to make adjustments and course corrections.”
It’s not clear whether the extension will bridge key differences between Deasy and some board members. Bennett Kayser said that he would prefer to evaluate the academic impact of iPads before committing $ 1 billion to the effort.
Four middle schools already had applied the brakes, opting out of being among the first to receive the tablets. Other schools scheduled to have received iPads are still waiting.
U.S. history teacher Jeffrey Williams was relieved to learn that his principal at Daniel Webster Middle School was choosing to wait.
“There’s a lot of uncertainly among the faculty about how they were going to use the iPads and protect the iPads and make sure the students were using them correctly,” Williams said.
Roosevelt High students were told to turn in iPads about two weeks ago, after more than 200 of them deleted security filters. The school collected the last four Tuesday by going directly to students’ homes.
In response to a survey, 59 Roosevelt teachers, out of about 100, said they would like to use the tablets again as soon as possible. The school is waiting for L.A. Unified to configure the devices so that teachers can keep them in their classrooms.
howard.blume@latimes.com
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