The Davis school board got some sobering news Thursday on the school district’s technology infrastructure, which will need a significant upgrade soon if Davis is to participate in an upcoming statewide trial of new online standardized tests.

The tests replace the old paper-and-pencil “bubble tests,” which are being retired.

Kim Wallace, the district’s director of instructional technology and learning, advised trustees that “we’re below the floor right now” in terms of the district’s ability to provide enough up-to-date equipment for students at all schools to participate in the upcoming trials of the state’s new MAPP (Measurement of Academic Performance and Progress) tests.

Those tests soon will replace the old STAR (Standardized Testing And Reporting) exams, which have been administered since the late 1990s.

Wallace said 10 computer rooms at schools around the district will need upgrades that will amount to replacing most of the existing equipment, much of which was purchased years ago with funds raised by school PTAs.

Computer teacher Jennifer Sommer of Holmes Junior High told the trustees that “we are woefully behind” in preparations for the coming change. Sommer added that many students have smartphones and tablets brought from home that have more computing power than the equipment in many Davis classrooms.

“It’s not good,” Sommer said. “The district has a history of not planning for (the purchase of) new equipment. It is important to build into the district’s long-term budget a plan to replace (old computers with newer and more up-to-date computers) on a regular basis.

“What we really need to do is college and career readiness (for students), and I can’t say we’re doing it with the computers we have now,” she said.

The school district recently received $1.6 million in state funds to help implement the new Common Core academic standards, as well as the new MAPP testing regime based on those standards. The board voted unanimously to spend $772,365 of that sum on technology readiness, funding the purchase of new computers and related gear.

Most of the remainder will go for instructional materials and training for teachers relating to the new standards.

The trustees also heard a proposal from the district’s music teachers to establish a districtwide elementary school choral music program, which would involve adding the equivalent of 3.4 full-time teachers. The program would provide 30 minutes of choral instruction to all elementary students, twice each week.

Associate Superintendent Clark Bryant noted the strong correlation between broad student participation in music programs and positive school climate. Several music teachers said a districtwide elementary choral music program would impart basic music skills to all students, leading to even broader participation in the district’s junior high and high school bands, orchestras and choral music ensembles.

Several trustees indicated that they want Superintendent Winfred Roberson to look into the music teachers’ proposal.

An agenda item relating to a potential change in the Davis academic calendar, moving back the beginning and the end of the school year by five to 10 days, was postponed until Dec. 19.

The board also unanimously approved a tentative agreement with the California School Employees Association — representing secretaries, custodial and maintenance staff and food workers — for a 2 percent one-time bonus. The employees have gone six years without a cost-of-living raise.

Trustees also approved a similar 2 percent one-time bonus for most of the district’s administrators. Negotiations with the teachers are ongoing.

— Reach Jeff Hudson at [email protected] or 530-747-8055. Follow him on Twitter at @JeffHudsonDE

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