By DOUG DONNELLY<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Advance Editor<\/p>\n\n\n\n
OTTAWA LAKE \u2013 When the Monroe County Intermediate School District first asked voters to approve a technology millage in 1997, a computer in every classroom was the goal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Three decades later, the millage is still funding technology, but now computers are in the hands of every student.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThese funds are critical to our students’ academic growth and achievement,\u201d said Whiteford Supt. Scott Huard. \u201cThe technology allows our students enhanced access to learning activities that couldn’t be achieved with paper and pencil tasks. Learning can be faster and more personalized.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Voters will go to the polls Tuesday, May 5, to decide on a sixth renewal of the millage. The .9866-mill renewal millage would raise about $7.6 million a year for another five years for the nine public schools, two charter schools and the Monroe County Intermediate School District. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
For Whiteford, that amounts to roughly $320,000 a year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“The educational landscape is changing from memorizing facts to more focus on students developing critical thinking, problem-solving, and digital literacy skills,\u201d Huard said. \u201cIn order to be successful in the future, our students need these skills on any chosen pathway.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The technology millage was once used for infrastructure to connect the entire county. Today, the money is used exclusively for technology enhancements, from student learning devices like laptops or tablets, to WiFi networks, cybersecurity and classroom technology tools. The money cannot be used for salaries or transportation or normal general fund expenses. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is not a new tax but a renewal request, so local property taxes will not increase if voters approve the millage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The proposal renews a .9866 mill levy for five years, equal to .9866 cents per $1,000 of taxable home value. For example, a home with a taxable value of $100,000 would contribute $98.66 per year. The requested amount is slightly less than 1 mill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Huard says the money allows Whiteford to purchase a Chromebook for every student.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe have a refresh cycle where third- and eighth-graders get a new Chromebook, and they keep it for five years,\u201d he said. \u201cGrades TK-second grade Chromebooks are refreshed every five years, also.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The technology millage money has also helped Whiteford purchase instructional tools that have enhanced learning drastically, Huard said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAll of our classrooms have interactive boards and document cameras for instruction,\u201d he said. \u201cThese allow students to be more engaged in the learning by interacting with the technology.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Voters have consistently renewed the technology millage at a 60-percent in favor margin, county officials said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By DOUG DONNELLY Advance Editor OTTAWA LAKE \u2013 When the Monroe County Intermediate School District first asked voters to approve a technology millage in 1997, a computer in every classroom was the goal. Three decades later, the millage is still funding technology, but now computers are in the hands of every student. \u201cThese funds are […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":103,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-102","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-whiteford"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blissfieldadvance.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blissfieldadvance.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blissfieldadvance.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blissfieldadvance.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blissfieldadvance.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=102"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blissfieldadvance.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":104,"href":"https:\/\/blissfieldadvance.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102\/revisions\/104"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blissfieldadvance.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/103"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blissfieldadvance.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=102"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blissfieldadvance.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=102"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blissfieldadvance.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=102"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}