Saturday, October 26, 2013

L.A. UNIFIED POSTPONES TUESDAY’S SPECIAL BOARD MEETING ABOUT iPADS

L.A. Unified postpones meeting on iPads over Deasy's possible exit

By Howard Blume and Stephen Ceasar, LA Times | http://lat.ms/16COVpM

October 25, 2013, 8:25 p.m.  ::  Los Angeles Board of Education President Richard Vladovic on Friday canceled a special board meeting planned for Tuesday on the district’s $1-billion iPad project.

Vladovic said the board needed to devote more time to a closed session meeting with L.A. schools chief John Deasy scheduled for earlier Tuesday.

Deasy, days before the scheduled performance review, has told some top officials that he may step down, according to district insiders.

Deasy, 52, said Friday he would not comment on his future until after Tuesday's performance review.

Vladovic said he had to give the closed session with Deasy top priority.

“My decision is, this discussion trumps everything else,” he said.

Vladovic stopped short of saying that the closed session would concern Deasy’s possible departure. “Other things have arisen, and we need to sit and talk and have a robust discussion,” he said.

The discussion with Deasy, scheduled for noon Tuesday, will not be open to the public, but there will be an opportunity for public comment at the beginning and end of the meeting.

Deasy's supporters plan to rally on his behalf, urging the board to keep him at the helm of the nation's second-largest school system.

Vladovic promised that these groups would have an opportunity to address the Board of Education.

The now-canceled board meeting had originally been called to discuss how the district hopes to sustain future costs of its technology program, among the other issues with the initiative.

Deasy's $1-billion effort to equip all students and teachers with iPads has encountered a host of problems.

The district has described its technology push as an "amazing" success, and said few problems have emerged at most of the 40 schools that have received devices to date.

But at three campuses more than 300 students deleted security filters, allowing them to browse the Internet freely and prompting officials to suspend the use of iPads at these high schools.

Parents also have expressed confusion about their responsibility for the devices. And officials have yet to purchase mechanical keyboards that will be necessary to use the iPads on new standardized tests.

Vladovic said he hopes to reschedule the iPad meeting for early November

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