Vernon Council Wants Usage Plan Before Handing Over iPads to School Officials

Before Town Council members consider handing over some used iPads to the Board of Education, they first want a little homework assignment completed.

Council members want to know what education officials are planning to do with them.

The iPads, eight in all, were on the council agenda on Tuesday. The council was being asked to give them to the school board.

Several council members wanted more information. Democrats Marie Herbst and  Michael Winkler, fresh off watching a 60 Minutes segment on how well the iPads can be used by autistic children, suggested that is where they go.

"The students should be first and foremost," Herbst said.

The town bought 13 iPads in 2010 for $520 each. Five are being kept for municipal applications. The council has moved away from the iPad and instead uses laptops now in en effort to go all-electronic. 

At Tuesday's council meeting, Winkler looked up that model iPad on his new laptop and said he couldn't find one selling for more than $100 on a major online auction site.

Republicans Adam Weissberger and John Kopec were also vehement about obtaining more information about their potential use from school system officials.

Weissberger moved that the council postpone any action until the next regularly scheduled meeting - Aug. 17 - to give school officials time to file a report.

The motion passed.

None of the council members said it was a bad idea to transfer the equipment.