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    Almond-Bancroft Operational Referendum
     
    Technology: An ever expanding part of our children’s future.
    By Superintendent Rich Hanson
     
    Many of us have cell phones. As a matter of fact, many of us depend on our cell phones to carry out our day to day activities.         

    How many of you have had the experience of paying off the contract for your phone, then soon after it begins to malfunction and you need to buy a new one? 

    Many of those glitches and problems are connected to the ever-changing technology, which is usually incompatible with the old phone.

    We face the same challenge with our technology at school. Software, hardware and infrastructure are continuously changing. Equipment and software become outdated very quickly, and must be updated or replaced.

    Having current technology is critical to ensure we are preparing our children for life after graduation. As our graduates begin their careers, employers will expect them to have the training and knowledge to use current technology.

    Students today are considered to be technology natives. This means they have been exposed to and have used technology from birth. Expecting them to learn without technology would only make their learning more difficult. Our goal is to prepare our students to be career or college ready as they graduate and take the next steps in their lives.

    So, the next time you make a call or open an app on your phone, remember you only have one phone to keep up to date. As a school district, we have hundreds of devices to keep current as well as trainings we need to do in order to make sure we are utilizing that technology fully.

    Continuing to meet our technology needs is one of the reasons the district is asking residents to approve a $525,000 referendum for recurring operational expenses on April 3.

    We are retiring our 1998 building addition debt and the 2013 technology referendum at the end of this school year.  That means we can provide the needed funds with no school tax rate increase.

    If you would like more information about the upcoming vote on April 3, go to our website or Facebook page and click the referendum information button.

    You may also contact Rich Hanson, District Administrator at 715-366-2941 ex. 418 or at rhanson@abschools.k12.wi.us, or one of the School Board Referendum Information Committee members, Bonnie Warzynski (bwarzynski@abschools.k12.wi.us), Debbie Bradley (dbradley@abschools.k12.wi.us), or Kim Weiss (kweiss@abschools.k12.wi.us).