School Board Rejects Computer Lease Extension

Bethlehem Area School Board directors narrowly rejected restructuring the district's lease contract with the Apple Computer Inc. on Monday evening.

Split 4-4 on the issue, with member Rosario Amato not present, the deal would have provided the district with the replacement of 909 computers for the coming school year at a cost of $1.4 million over four years.

Currently, the district pays $737,188 annually for equipment purchased in 2009. That contract is up at the end of the 2012-13 school year.

Board members stated various reasons for voting the way they did.

Member Irene Follweiler said she found the lack of competitiveness in the district's sole use of Apple machines over PC-based systems troubling.

The Apple systems are needed for the district's Read180 program, which operate in a Mac OS environment, administrators said. The district is up for a possible $318,729 in grant funding to pay for new machines for the program.

Still, board member Aurea Ortiz questioned whether the machines would be the best value for the money.

“Will it help the district be more (technologically) competitive?” she asked.

Though the Read180 program will need updating soon, board member Eugene McKeon said he felt the update could wait while the board does a more thorough investigation into the options and determines the best.

The issue, however, is not just about the cost of the machines, said BASB vice-president William Burkhardt.

“It's more than just (the computer),” he said. “It matters how training is going to happen,”

Follweiler, Ortiz, McKeon and Loretta Leeson voted nay to the contract's restructuring.

Because the matter was voted down, the board will now look at other options, said BASB President Michelle Cann.

Correction: In the originally published version of this story, we had School Director Follweiler's first name incorrect.