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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]When your first instinct is to assume an asst superintendent is wrong and you have the right answer, that's inexperience. [/quote]

When your first instinct is "'comparable laptop' is an odd way of phrasing that', 
and your second instinct is to actually look at prices and policies on things like cloud storage, 
and your third instinct is to look at what other school systems are doing, 
and your fourth instinct is to put all that together

It's pretty reasonable to apply Occam's razor and conclude that the Assistant superintendent is either a) ignorant of the actual prices, policies, and values of competing products, or b) using deliberately veiled language to prevent an unfavorable comparison.

HOWEVER, if someone lays out that thinking for you, and YOUR first instinct is to compress all of that detail into a simple narrative of "you're making assumptions!", perhaps it is you who should be asking why defending APS in the face of actual evidence is your first instinct.  [/quote]

We don’t buy laptops from Best Buy. They are purchased/leased with special educational use warranties and anticipated repair/replacement expenses built into the price. The assistant superintendent participated in the procurement, evaluated bids, and negotiated service level agreements with the vendor. But sure, you probably know more about it. [/quote]

Doesn't mean they made the most cost-effective, or the best decision. Maybe they did. But until they explain it with the comparisons, I'm not just going to assume they're right. Not when we're looking for every budget savings feasible. Not when APS has been so poor rolling out 1:1 program - 9 years in and they still don't have a coordinated digital curriculum for consistent/more uniform use across the district. [/quote]

So the idea is to use a lot of staff time doing a cost analysis of one issue [b]based on….the fact that you know what a Chromebook costs retail? [/b]Again, this is a solution in search of a problem.

How about we ask staff to identify a range of potential cost saving strategies and the alternatives and present them to the board in the budget presentation? Or direct the internal auditor to do some studies? Or ask principals?

OH WAiT the board already does all that, and every budget book includes pages of potential savings, efficiencies, and cuts. They renegotiate everything all the time!

But you think we’re going to magically find a ton of savings based on a random hunch that an individual board member has? Sounds like a great way to waste time and money. [/quote]

No. Based on knowing that many other school districts use Chromebooks and the fact that the #1 public high school in the country uses Chromebooks for a far more rigorous academic program than APS offers.

Laughable that you think the Board already does all that deep-dive questioning and prodding. They might ask a few questions, then they merely accept whatever response they get from staff - which usually involves the justification for the decision/recommendation they've already made based on limited research/criteria and not a detailed pro/con listing.

And if you've been following, you are aware that the Board adopted a policy PROHIBITING the exploration and consideration of less expensive options in certain instances. See previous board meeting speakers and AEM, notably Stacy Snyder's comments.

Again, if APS had a history of best, cost-effective decisions and effective implementation of initiatives, I'd have more trust in their decision to go with and stay with Apple. I prefer Macs; but that doesn't mean they're the most cost-effective choice for the same results.[/quote]

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