Monroe ISD seeking technology millage renewal

The Monroe County Intermediate School District once again will ask voters to renew its long-supported technology millage used toward keeping the county's public school districts competitive in its access to digital resources. 

Residents countywide will be asked to approve or nix the regional enhancement millage renewal, which has earned the community's support for more than 20 years, to levy .9866 mills for the next five years during the May 4 election. 

The request comes at a time when technology devices, many of which have been funded from past millage revenue, are critical for students learning virtually or for classrooms incorporating online learning components amid the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Supt. Stephen McNew of the Monroe County Intermediate School District.

"When students went home March 13 and didn't know if they'd be back, and they didn't come back, it was a blessing for those kids to have those (devices), and they still do," McNew recently told The Monroe News. 

The regional enhancement renewal, also known as the county's technology millage, has funded educational technology for the county's nine public school districts: Airport Community Schools, Bedford Public Schools, Dundee Community School, Jefferson Schools, Ida Public Schools, Mason Consolidated Schools, Monroe Public Schools, Summerfield Schools and Whiteford Agricultural Schools.

This year, it also will provide funding to the ISD, along with New Bedford Academy and Triumph Academy, which are charter schools. 

The funds faithfully have been renewed every five years by voters since 1997, when the millage first was created, according to Donald Spencer, retired ISD superintendent and chair of the Citizens for Educational Technology Committee. 

"The need that we could see at the time as educators was technology," Spencer explained. "We knew it was going to be big, but we had no idea how big (technology) would really get." 

If the millage is renewed again this year, the ISD would continue to levy just less than a mill from homeowners, which amounts to about 99 cents per $1,000 of taxable value on a home.  A homeowner whose home has a taxable value of $100,000 would pay about $98.66 annually toward educational technology for Monroe County, including for their neighborhood districts.

It would not be a new cost to homeowners; they're already are paying this tax. 

If successful, the millage is expected to generate about $6 million per year for the next five years, about $285 per student, based on preliminary calculations, McNew said. 

The funds would go toward a myriad of technological needs for students that reach beyond laptops and handheld devices, McNew explained. It also includes funding new courses, online academic programs, remote learning necessities and other costs.

"The success is what really keeps bringing it support in the community," Spencer said. 

At Summerfield Schools, for example, Supt. John Hewitt said the technology millage allowed the district to offer virtual Advanced Placement courses for students, along with create an industry-compatible broadcasting course. 

At Airport Community Schools, Supt. John Krimmel said technology millage funds have supported new software programs for career technological education courses and boost cybersecurity for students learning remotely. 

It also has allowed districts to supply internet hotspots throughout the county for students who do not have Wifi at home, he said. 

"We are very proud of the technology in this county," Spencer said. "I can't tell you how many times parents told me they were happy their children had this technology." 

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