Ricoh Proposal Analysis

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Channel 15

Have you ever watched our public school local access channel 15? If you have never viewed this channel it is mostly slides, set to music, of old information and photos of a few things that have happened in some of the schools. Talk about an underutilized marketing tool. When I have inquired as to why this channel does not have up to date student centered content the response is who will do it. How about our AV guy that creates the presentations for the administrators to present at board meetings. Or perhaps the new communications specialist the superintendent hired at a tune of 24 thousand dollars a year as a part time employee. This channel could be used to feature what the students are doing in this district. I suggest with the help of tech savvy students, parents and the PTA that every school create video vignettes of events that take place throughout the district. Nothing fancy just a video recording of a concert or science fair or a myriad of things that happen in our schools daily. Kids get a kick out of seeing themselves on the tube and I think it would help build school spirit. Why not block time on channel 15 devoted to high school students creating original programing? I have seen videos of the Stevenson football team at board meetings, lets feature our outstanding artists throughout the district as well with performances on channel 15. I have asked if I could read a children's book once a month. This could be expanded to include guest readers from the community at large. I am sure there are capable high school students that as aspiring journalist would love to follow our students to science competitions and other school sponsored events and produce programing for broadcast. What about the career technical center? This is just the sort of project they would excel at. The ideas are endless as to what could fill a 24 hour channel. Instead of investing time and energy in gimmicks like the competitive edge to market this district lets showcase our greatest assets , our students.

Competitive Edge

Reading the summary of the first candidate forum I was curious about Tom Baileys comment concerning the districts latest deception, the competitive edge. He described the program as a partially funded college scholarship. This program is being hyped in all of the districts mailings and talked up at PTA meetings as well. In some of these publications it has been mentioned in the same paragraph as the Kalamazoo Promise which would understandably give the reader the impression that the two programs have something in common. For the uninitiated the Kalamazoo Promise pays for the Michigan college education of students that attend and graduate from a public school in Kalamazoo. It is underwritten by anonymous donors to the tune of 250 million dollars and provides full tuition for 4 years. The Competitive Edge contributes 100 dollars to your aspiring college student if you attend LPS form first to twelfth grade. This will not buy a single text book. To give the impression that this program is funding a college education is very misleading and shows the desperation in trying to bring back the over 1,200 students that we have lost since the Legacy debacle..

Channel 15

Have you ever watched our public access channel? Talk about an underused, valuable marketing tool. I have asked the administration why we are not putting real student centered content on this channel and the response is who will do it.How about our AV guy or the newly hired communications specialist. Instead of wasting resources pushing the competitive edge scam lets focus on making this channel truly special. Lets designate air time for each high school to create broadcast ready content every week. In fact every school in the district with the help of tech savvy students and parents could produce video vignettes of whats happening in their schools. Kids love to see themselves on the tube and I think it would build school pride.Throughout the district we have talented students that could showcase their abilities on air. Could CAPA create a production team of aspiring broadcast journalist to follow our students when they compete in things like the robotics challenge and then create programing to share with the entire community. I have asked if I could read a children's story once a month. This could be expanded to include guest readers from citizens to community leaders. Tonight I attended the Cyber Safety presentation at Churchill this should have been recorded and broadcast. The production of Oklahoma performed at Franklin could have been as simple as a one camera shoot and could be shown to a much wider audience on our cable channel. The point is lets start using the tools we already have to showcase the our best ambassadors our students.

A letter from Apple

Dear Dr. King:
Thank you for the opportunity to clarify Apple's response to the District's RFP for Instructional Computers. Apple's initial bid response included a carefully-detailed description of Apple's product proposal, but we fear that the district's evaluation committee did not take into account all of the factors that would be relevant to its determination. As we review the Bid Analysis, it seems apparent that the evaluation committee did not fully consider our primary product offering, the 17" iMac. We attach configuration information and the cost structure for our 17" iMac solution which establish that the cost delta between Apple and the winning bid is nominal.

Apple has broad and deep experience deploying educational technology and proven capacity to deliver a comprehensive solution designed to meet the needs of the District's students. Our computer specifications derive from what students can do in the classroom and result in configurations that enable them to accomplish those things. The operating system and creative applications are integrated, making extremely efficient use of the hardware resources of the system. Apple's ability to craft a solution that incorporates operating system, hardware, and applications makes for unparalleled ease of use and long-term support benefits.

The teachers in Livonia are comfortable and familiar with the applications and support that Apple provides. As external mandates and pressures increasingly burden our teachers, the district now has an opportunity to besensitive to the additional time and effort that would be required for its teachers to make this change. If learning in the classroom is the mostimportant outcome for the use of educational technology, then providingcontinuity for the district's teaching professionals should be a critical factor in the deployment analysis.We welcome the opportunity to explain, demonstrate and share why we knowthat our solution fits the needs of the students and teachers of Livonia Public Schools. An RFP response cannot show you how Apple truly differentiates itself from other vendors.Please let myself or Eileen Crowley know if you have any additionalquestions.

Regards,
Lori J. Dallava
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Lori Dallava
Sr. Project ManagerBids Management TeamApple Inc.

Letter from a concerned teacher.

Whether you prefer MAC or PC, you can't help coming to the conclusion that someone did not do their homework before making this decision.

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The IT Dept Memo on the Computer bids

More information on the computer purchase decision before the board.

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