Saturday, August 28, 2010
Donation Case
A member of the school board has contacted you and indicated that they have been able to purchase two dozen Apple I-Pad’s and would like to donate them to your school. The school board member lives in your district and does not want to share them with any of the other schools. What steps will you take prior to responding and after responding to this inquiry?
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I would first be delighted to accept those i-pads before they get away. I would then talk to our ITRT teacher and ask how we can use them and for what grades need them the most. I don't want to say that I would not take care of my own, but I would probably try and find a way that we could use them right away and see how many we needed to use them effectively.
ReplyDeleteThen I would share with the other principals in our school system of the situation and let them know that our ITRT has looked them over and how we can utilize them right away. Of course I would see what the Superintendent wanted me to do, but believe me I would know what I wanted to do with them if I had a heads up.
No I don't think it would be fair for our school to have them all, but I would like for us to get the first use of them. Then again it is not my say so and with the budget so tight how could I blame them.
I would first start by accepting the computers and showing my appreciation to the board member. I know it sounds cheap that I would take them with out being able to share, but my students are my number one priority. This a resource that would be very useful for the school and I would be grateful to have them. I would have to inform the Superintendent of the situation and go with his/her recommendation of the use of them, but not taking them just because I can't share is crazy because this is something that every PTO/PTA does all the time. Not only considering the educational benefit my students and teachers would have by using them in everyday instruction.
ReplyDeleteZack Dotson
I agree with Zack, my students are my number one priority and if someone wants to give our school something that benefits the children then I am going to receive the gift with great appreciation. I would let the Superintendent know of the gift, but I agree that not taking some much needed resources to help my students would be crazy. We all have various resources to help meet the needs of our students. I feel that I would be doing a disservice to my students if I didn't take something that would provide so many learning opportunities for them.
ReplyDeleteAlana Sexton
Before I respond to the school board member I would let Central Office know that he has acquired these I-pads. I would let the school board member know how much I appreciate these and if I get the go-ahead I would accept all of them, but would be understanding and gladly share with the other schools if asked. I would be happy to ask him to please keep my school in mind if he happens to attain any more.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great discussion! I would graciously accept the gift of the ipads from the board member. I would let the central office know of this gift to make sure this was appropriate to accept, but as the students in my building are my first priority, I would graciously accept the gift on their behalf and put them in the students' hands to use.
ReplyDeleteKind regards,
Amanda G. Gibson
I would be an idiot not to accept the gift. Such technology could really help advance the learning opportunities of the students. I would graciously thank the school board member for thinking of our school first, but I would tell him/her that I need to call the superintendent before I accepted to see how he/she would want to handle the donation.
ReplyDeleteAfter receiving the I-pads, I would speak with the technology staff concerning the most effective ways to use them. I would inform the faculty of the I-pads and brainstorm some possibilities for their use.
Sorry, Dr. McCracken for not adding my name to my comment. That is my comment from Oct. 15.
ReplyDeleteRobert Sturgill
I first would look at the policy for accepting any donation. Sometimes accepting donations have underlying meanings and school systems set up procedures that will allow them to accept such a donation. If policy permitted I would accept the donation on behalf of the school as well while following policy. I would then obtain the serial numbers and properly mark the IPads to file them on an inventory list. I would the give someone trusted within the system the responsibility of handling the distribution of the IPads and creating a sign out sheet. I would hold a staff development opportunity to discuss the effective uses and procedures for checking out the IPads.
ReplyDeleteAssuming there are no clear cut policy violations being committed, I would accept the gift and make sure to loudly thank and praise this board member. I would also see if there is a way to pass on our bounty to other and perhaps less fortunate schools. If we now have a surplus of computers, would another principal be interested? I'd run this through the superintendent's office.
ReplyDeleteI would first review my county's policy on accepting gifts to ensure that it was all right for me to accept the gifts. Before letting the donor know that I accepted the i-Pads, I would contact the superintendent and make sure that s/he understood the situation and that I really would like to have those for my school. (In the end, I do not believe that the superintendent would tell me not to accept the gift, so I would put them to good use immediately to show my appreciation!)
ReplyDeleteI would graciously accept the gift of the I-pads. The policy and everything else is something that will be carefully considered as I say yes! I would let ITRT and central office know what is going on and would offer for them to get the chance to use these as soon as we have some significant time for our students to get to use them. If central office would have a problem with it, we would make some compromises with their use. I would definitely have the students of my school in mind the entire time.
ReplyDeleteFirst I would explain to the member how much they are appreciated for such a donation! Before accepting, I would go to my county policy manual to see what policy may cover accepting gifts. If no information is found there, I would contact the director of personnel to determine whether or not I can accept the donation. If so, I would be very thankful for such a gift! Once accepted, the staff would be part of determining where the I-Pads are needed.
ReplyDeleteJerad Ward
I would accept the donation, brainstorm instructional ideas with my faculty on how to use them and put them to work immediately. Based on the success of them at my school, I may be able to get the other schools "movin" to apply for grants so they may also acquire this technology. There is a wealth of monetary sources out there that can be tapped into. I would be happy to begin the trend, donation or no donation...sharing or not sharing.
ReplyDeleteI would contact the Superintendent as well as policy supervisor. I would check on the legalities of accepting the gifts. I would not want to let the opportunity of receiving the I-Pads pass me by, but I would have to question why the SB Member would not want them shared.
ReplyDelete