Evergreen School District
HOMEPAGE

BACKGROUND

Evergreen is a suburban school district with approximately 21,000 students housed in twenty-seven schools. A rapidly growing district, Evergreen will open its third high school in the fall of 1999, and a middle school and an elementary school are under construction.

EVERGREEN'S TECHNOLOGY IN THE 1980s

The district has long supported an innovative, technology-infused vocational/technical program and in 1983 had the first high school level word processing lab west of the Mississippi. Student and fiscal management systems are linked to the State of Washington system, WSIPC (Washington State Information Processing Cooperative). In the late 1980s Evergreen School District begin installing e-mail and voice mail systems and creating local area networks to support these services. In 1989 a district junior high school was awarded a $500,000 21st Century School grant, marking the first time that technology was deployed to every classroom within a school.

TECHNOLOGY PROGRESS IN THE 1990s

With the formation of the District Technology Committee in 1990, Evergreen SD began a thorough assessment of the role of technology to increase student learning and staff productivity. Following the lead of this committee, Evergreen began its steady progress in the 1990s to deploy technology to every classroom and office in the district.

FUNDING

A Capital Needs Bond approved by the voters in 1992 allocated $7,865,000 for technology, allowing the district to provide a base level of technology and connectivity to every school. A second bond approved in 1994 provided an additional $14,704,250 for technology. In February 1999 a capital technology levy for $6,840,000 won 57% support of the voters but failed because it was short of the 60% super majority required by the State of Washington.

SCHOOL LEVEL PLANNING FOR TECHNOLOGY

To access the technology funds approved by the electorate, each school developed a comprehensive, long term school improvement and technology plan. School technology plans included educational goals, needs assessments, staff development, software selection, and evaluation of educational effectiveness.

DISTRICT LEVEL PLANNING FOR TECHNOLOGY

To meet our sustainable vision of technology used to support effective teaching and business practices, Evergreen School District approaches technology from a return on investment (ROI) viewpoint. When considering the deployment of technology for a particular program or task, managers calculate the total cost of the implementation. For instance; what is the actual cost when considering equipment and software purchase, educational benefits, required facility modifications, staff training, technical support, ongoing maintenance, and eventual replacement. When it can be determined with confidence that the proposed technology can perform the tasks better, or faster, or cheaper, or to higher levels than with the traditional methods it replaces, then Evergreen will proceed with its implementation.

EVERGREEN SCHOOL DISTRICT TODAY

Approximately 4,500 computers are used in the district and all are networked and have Internet access. Each classroom has a high speed Internet access at three or more locations and a phone with district voice mail and direct dial functions. A systematic plan was followed to provide adaptive equipment so all students, including those with handicapping conditions, have equitable access to current technology. A computer services department provides helpdesk assistance and technical support in-house. Technology staff development and curriculum integration is a focus of Evergreen School District and is provided by an instructional technology department.