Tech upgrades top list of schools’ needs

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While there were many potential projects discussed on the Valley Stream Central High School District’s annual facilities tour last Saturday morning, none of them command the extensive funding that the Board of Education has seen in years past.

There are no district-wide window replacements or major construction projects for the board to consider, but there is still plenty of work to be done. The building principals led the tour at their respective schools, along with Dr. Wayne Loper, assistant superintendent for finance and operations. Board and community members got a look at what may be on tap in the coming year and saw some recently completed projects along the way.

Each of the district’s four schools is in need of a new computer lab in order to have a sufficient number of computers for students to use, as more and more state assessments are being administered online. There is an estimated cost of $150,000 per computer lab, which would be of varying sizes at the four schools. All of the principals said that the labs are necessary.

At North High School, Principal Cliff Odell said he would like to put a new computer lab in the school’s library. North currently has three computer labs, but they are in constant use for classroom instruction and test taking, making a fourth lab necessary, Odell said.

Superintendent Dr. Bill Heidenreich said that school libraries have changed because the way students gather information has changed. They aren’t as likely to do their research using a reference book as they are to use the Internet, which means that the role of the school library isn’t the same as it was in years past.

South High School Principal Maureen Henry and Memorial Junior High Principal Anthony Mignella both proposed converting second-floor classrooms into computer labs, and Dr. Joseph Pompilio, Central High School’s principal, said that the best place for a new lab would be a room in the school’s library.

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