MAPS to waive technology fee for 2020-21 school year


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MANISTEE — With a number of students opting to start the school year learning remotely, and those choosing in-person instruction still expected to rely heavily upon online resources due to social distancing requirements, the Manistee Area Public Schools is looking to help families where it can.

The board of education recently voted unanimously to waive technology fees for laptops and tablets for the 2020-21 school year.

MAPS business manager Howard Vaas explained the fee is fitting for normal school years, but students will have increased reliance on the internet this school year to due COVID-19 guidelines and protocols within the district.

“Normally the fee applies to students who wish to take the device home in a normal circumstance,” he said. “Students have always been able to use them at school without a charge, but in this environment, where there’s an expectation for us to be able to provide an online resource for everybody, it seems appropriate for us to consider (waiving the fee) when we have the financial ability to do so.”


Traditionally, the fee structure was based upon the lunch programs in which the student was enrolled. For laptops, the fee was $80, $50 and $40 for regular pay, reduced and free lunch, respectively. For tablets, the fees were $40, $25 and $20.


“What a parent ends up paying into that, that’s what we’ve been using to fund our self-insurance model. We’ve been holding those rates for many, many years, but this spring, with COVID-19, we ended up waiving those fees for any students that were not currently taking the device home, and that was the first time we’ve done that,” said Ken Blakey-Shell, MAPS technology director. “And just a quick update on how things have gone, we’ve been very successful at getting devices back, which is great, and repair rates have been down a fair bit from what we normally experience.”


The decreased repair rates have allowed the district to build up a budget surplus that allows it to waive the technology fee without increasing expenditures to the general fund.

“The fee structure has been in place since the beginning of the PowerLearning program. Over the years, we have accumulated a balance in that account,” Vaas said. “… One point to remember is when you rolled this program out you were using Dell products and experiencing higher incidents of repair compared to when we later migrated to the Apple products. But, over the years we are up to a balance of $175,000.

“When we look back at the last two years’ expenditures it is between $30,000-$40,000 a year, so we certainly have the ability to waive these fees without it being a huge detriment to the district,” he continued. “It would reduce our balance, which is something we need to start working on.”

Board president Dr. Paul Antal was happy the district could help families in these trying times.

“I think this is us looking out for our community. Every little bit, every dollar amount does make a difference,” he said. “We realize that. When we’re in a position where we can allow that, I think we should.”


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