A.V. SCHOOLS PUT PRIORITY ON COMPUTERS : ANTELOPE VALLEY SCHOOLS PUSHING TO COMPUTERIZE.

Byline: Karen Maeshiro Daily News Staff Writer

Antelope Valley schools are ahead of the curve in the number of students per computer compared to schools statewide, but officials are pushing for more hardware and software to give students the competitive edge.

With tight budgets, some school districts have benefited in this drive from the help of grants, donations, school fund-raisers, volunteer work, one-time funds from the state and innovative links with the business world and government to provide more technology in the classroom.

``We're trying to plug along. Rome wasn't built in a day,'' said Kelley Flynn, coordinator of information and technology services for the 13,400-student Lancaster School District, which has computer labs on every campus and is halfway toward its goal of having a computer in every classroom. ``It takes a long time to implement.''

Discounting obsolete equipment, California classrooms today provide just one computer for every 73 students, according to a report released last week by a state task force. In overall spending per student, the state ranks 33rd nationwide with a mere $3 per student set aside for technology each year.

Flynn estimates the Lancaster district has about one computer for every 50 students. At the 18,500-student Palmdale School District, the ratio is one computer for every 25 students. At the 15,000-student Antelope Valley Union High School District, it's one computer to 10. And in the 2,100-student Wilsona School District, the ratio is about one to 15.

``The high school district has made a real high priority of improving technology access of all students,'' said Pat Hart, the district's coordinator of educational technology. ``We're in the process of wiring all the campuses so that they will have access to computer networks in every single classroom.''

At the end of last year, the high school district offered $70,000 in mini-grants to teachers to fund technology projects in different subject areas, Hart said.

Music teachers, for example, used their mini-grant to buy computer equipment that will enable students to compose music using a special keyboard, Hart said.

The state task force report says $11 billion should be spent over the next four years on computers and technology for grades K-12 in California, to be raised through a bond measure, tax increase or other means.

Specific goals listed in the report include a student-to-computer ratio of 4 to 1, phones in every classroom, technology as an integral part of the curriculum, and reading and math scores above the 50th percentile nationally.

In the meantime, schools in the Antelope Valley take advantage of grants from government agencies, private companies and foundations to procure computers and technology.

One example was the $1 million grant awarded last year by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to create an interactive multimedia curriculum to encourage math and science education.

Participants in the project include the high school district, the Palmdale district and Antelope Valley College.

Lori Weatherbie, director of information services in the Palmdale district, said the district received more than 20 computers and other equipment, such as television monitors and printers through the NASA grant.

``We look for wherever we can save money. I'm a grovel, snivel person,'' said Weatherbie. The Palmdale district's 18 schools each have a computer lab of 15 to 30 computers, and two-thirds of the campuses have access to the Internet.

Many districts used one-time grants from the state given out last year toward technology and computers.

Of the $100,000 received by the Wilsona School District from a state funding bill, each of the district's three schools got $25,000 to spend on technology and $25,000 went to the district office, Superintendent Chet Caldeira said.

In the Lancaster district, each of the 15 schools received $20,000 from the one-time funds to spend on computers, Flynn said. In addition, schools have held candy sales and other fund-raisers for computers, Flynn said.

Parents and others in the community have volunteered their time, expertise and labor to wire schools and install equipment. Flynn said one parent at New Vista Middle School, Steve True, has donated his time to help wire the school's computer lab - work valued at $10,000.

Hart of the high school district said three high schools - Littlerock, Lancaster and Antelope Valley - will participate in a yearlong pilot program with computer giant Microsoft and Toshiba this fall.

Under the program, students will use laptop computers to see if learning improves. Students will have to buy the laptops for about $1,800, but the district will try to offset the costs for those parents who can't afford the total, Hart said.

One unlikely source of computers has been the state prison in Lancaster. About 146 computers have been refurbished by inmates over the past year and donated to local schools in a joint effort involving businesses and the Detwiler Foundation.