Laptops at schools in the Nashville area (Rutherford: real estate, home)

[Anony-Momma]

Nashville, Rutherford school-issued mini-laptops let more kids log in | tennessean.com | The Tennessean

Parents in our area must agree to have a laptop program, with the majority of families providing that laptop (the school provides a small percentage). My kids have been in laptop programs since 5th grade.

As we prepare to move to Middle Tennessee, I wonder, how many schools have laptop programs?

[BirdieBelle]

Well, I don't know off the top of my head about all the 8 counties surrounding Nashville, but as you can probably tell from the article, schools here do not provide laptops unless it's part of a "Special program" such as the one described.
You must be coming from an affluent area if parents are REQUIRED to provide laptops, even with a percentage paid by the school. It would not even be possible in Davidson County.
Apollo Middle, one of the Davidson County schools mentioned in the article, is a school where literally 95% of the students are economically disadvantaged. Things we take for granted here in Williamson, like most every home having a computer, are not certainties there.
Even in Williamson, laptops aren't provided. The county is facing severe budget problems and cannot update some of the school computers it currently has. To save money, they opted not to buy individual science textbooks for middle school but have a class set, or else students log on to online textbooks.
So no, Williamson does not provide laptops. But most of the kids here already have computers at home.

[septimus]

The only school I think that requires them is Harpeth Hall but it is private.

[Anony-Momma]

I suspect it's all relative; and maybe priorities are a factor, too.

We are coming from a county that is similar to Williamson County in that the county is one of the most affluent in the country; however, we have been hit much harder by the economy. Wouldn't surprise me to learn that some longtime laptop schools will drop laptop programs due to low parent participation. Those schools typically own enough laptops for one or two classrooms to use at a time, which means the students might have a laptop for one class (English Language Arts or science, typically) a week, as laptops rotate among classrooms on a cart.

(I still am in sticker shock over the real estate prices in Williamson County compared to the town we are leaving. Prices have depreciated much more here than other areas.)

In our laptop program, the majority of the parents at a school must agree to participate by purchasing a laptop or the school has no laptop programs. Some schools around us in our own district don't get that majority and thus have no laptop program.

For competetive pricing, the school district works via a bidding process to secure a package and asks that we purchase from that company so the laptops have the same package, which makes troubleshooting and repairs a little easier, and we have a 3-year repair contract on the laptop that includes one replacement per year if needed. (We had one laptop replaced after an accident at home.)

It's interesting to see how so many things differ from state to state, not simply government education, but other services as well.

[septimus]

Originally Posted by Anony-Momma

I suspect it's all relative; and maybe priorities are a factor, too.


It's interesting to see how so many things differ from state to state, not simply government education, but other services as well.

We have really nice roads here in TN. It is the one thing we rank in the top of for "best of" lists

[Anony-Momma]

Our roads *stink*. We're fast approaching pothole season.

Moving to a state with great roads is certainly a ginormous perk!

[vivelafrance]

To most people, one of the biggest advantages of moving to TN is lower taxes. With lower taxes come less services. The schools here do not offer as wide of an array of programs as those in high tax states like the northeast....and even the best public schools there pale in comparison to schools where I'm from in France (where the tax burden is much, much higher). So I think its ridiculous when people move here from those areas and complain about the lack of services (educational and otherwise) when they moved here to escape high taxes in the first place. However, with less taxes you should (in theory) have more money to provide your children access to better materials and technology.

[akm4]

Battleground Academy and CPA, but they're private schools too.

[Anony-Momma]

Some folks move b/c of a job transfer, not for lower taxes.

I happen to believe in our federalism, giving states the right to decide things like taxes, education rules and regs, driver's licenses, marriage licenses, etc, individually.

I've lived in four states as an adult, and in just one with children. One of my children has a disability. I am getting quite an edcuation in what, exactly, lower taxes means. It's different - not necessarily better or worse, but certainly different.

We'll adjust. Others do. We will, too. We're looking forward to it!

[vivelafrance]

Originally Posted by Anony-Momma

I've lived in four states as an adult, and in just one with children. One of my children has a disability. I am getting quite an edcuation in what, exactly, lower taxes means. It's different - not necessarily better or worse, but certainly different.

I agree!