BROSELEY — The Twin Rivers R-X School Board decided to make a substantial purchase of Chromebooks at the regular board meeting Tuesday night.
Superintendent Rob Brown explained the purchase was in accordance with standards the board previously set.
“This is us trying to up to date and keeping our students at a one to one basis with the laptops,” Brown explained. “We would be looking at purchasing 150 new Chromebooks.”
Brown also explained to the board there was a need to purchase 10 new PCs for classrooms.
“Some of our teachers have really done all they can with what they have,” Brown remarked. “They need something new.”
The computers stay in the classroom, and the teachers use them for numerous things.
“They use the computers for marking attendance, keeping their grades, any presentations they might do, curriculum,” Brown explained. “So it’s pretty essential for them.”
The board voted unanimously to purchase the computers.
In other board news, Brown presented results from MAP/EOC testing.
“We don’t have the state averages back yet, so we can’t do a direct comparison to see how our students performed compared to the rest of the state,” Brown noted. “There were some areas where our students went up compared to last year, and down in some other areas.”
Specifically, fifth, sixth, and seventh grades had fewer students test at proficient/advanced levels for English. But Brown also noted the third through sixth grades increased the number of students who were proficient/advanced in math.
“In high school, our students also improved the number that tested at proficient/advanced for Algebra I,” Brown stated. “It will be interesting to compare to the state averages when those are available, but that likely won’t be until September or October.”
The board also voted to have the parking lot at the Fisk campus striped and sealed.
“We did that last year at the high school, and it turned out really nice,” Brown remarked. “I would like for us to do the same thing with the Fisk campus.”
Brown informed the board that the total cost for the striping and sealing would be $7,300.
The board set the next regular meeting for August 29 at 6 p.m.