D300 gets loan from state to buy new technology – Chicago Sun

Updated: January 6, 2012 2:25AM

CARPENTERSVILLE — Eric Willard, chief technology officer in Community Unit School District 300, was “an unhappy camper” when he learned that the Carpentersville-area school district would receive a $221,700 loan from the Illinois State Board of Education.

That’s because the district had been eligible to receive about 10 times that amount from the state board’s School Technology Revolving Loan Program, Willard said.

But, he said, “Instead of being grumpy, I should have been thrilled.”

That amount is more than a third of the $618,000 that the ISBE announced this week it has awarded to six school districts through its School Technology Revolving Loans Program.

The loan program is a three-year loan with a 2 percent interest rate, according to the ISBE.

Those low-interest loans allow schools to use technology for classroom instruction and staff development.

“It’s essential students keep up with technological advances so they can succeed in a high-tech tomorrow,” said State Board of Education Chairman Gery J. Chico.

“These low-interest loans provide another option for cash-strapped districts so that they can provide the resources necessary to prepare students to succeed in college and careers.”

And the loan fit in “exactly” with District 300’s 15-year technology plan, according to Willard.

The school district will use the money to buy 63 interactive “whiteboards” — enough to furnish every middle school classroom, the chief technology officer said. That also could outfit every fifth-, fourth- and maybe even every third-grade classroom in the district this year since, he said, “every time I turn around” schools are purchasing whiteboards for classrooms using grant money and parent donations.

And District 300 has the infrastructure to back up all that new technology, unlike many school districts that invest in computers, then realize they don’t have the connection to Internet access or professional development needed to use them, Willard said.

“Those are the things we have built in the district with referendum funding,” he said.

“Now we’re ready to buy computers. Grant money, loans from the states, even looking at new strategies like having students bring in their own … . Those are things we’re working on this year for next year.”

Money from the School Technology Revolving Loans Program can be used on equipment and wiring for installing and upgrading local- and wide-area networks and for network hardware and supplies and labor costs for electrical work directly related to technology, according to the ISBE. It also can be used on computer hardware used for classroom instruction or staff development and other staff development directly related to the integration of technology into the learning environment, the board said.

Illinois school districts that meet the criteria of the loan program are selected on a first-come, first-served basis, according to the ISBE. A formula dictates the maximum amount districts can receive based on enrollment, although some districts request less, the board said.

Since 1999, the program has loaned more than $75 million to qualified school districts, according to the state board. A total 530 loans had been made to districts before those awarded this year.

Other recipients include Irvington Community School District 11 ($15,000), Lexington Community Unit School District 7 ($74,950), Elmwood Community Unit School District 322 ($91,300), Wolf Branch School District 113 in Swansea ($105,000) and New Berlin Unit School District 16 ($110,050).