WHITEHALL — Whitehall’s school board didn’t get a chance to celebrate retired technology director Steve Aardema at Monday’s monthly meeting because, as superintendent Jerry McDowell joked, “he snuck out between board meetings.”
Aardema retired April 10 and quickly left for a deserved vacation, receiving an internal retirement luncheon before his departure. His original retirement date was at the end of the month before being moved up.
McDowell said Aardema was among the hardest workers he’d been around in education, saying “he would literally get on his hands and knees” to help with something if needed, noting repair jobs he’d been part of in the past. Aardema was also credited with spending time training Tayler Zweigle, who is inheriting many of his responsibilities, over the past couple of years to ensure a seamless transition. Zweigle holds the title of accounting specialist, and she, along with McDowell and assistant superintendent CJ Van Wieren, will share Aardema’s former role.
Beyond that, the board approved a $93,750 purchase of 375 Chromebooks and licenses from Hewlett-Packard from its technology and security fund. The Chromebooks will be used to update the store of devices for sixth and seventh-graders’ use at the middle school, as well as ensuring adequate supply for high schoolers’ use and for students at the Duck Creek Learning Center. McDowell said the board chose to spend slightly more - $14 per device - on a higher-quality model in hopes they would last longer.
The board also discussed, but did not vote on, the possibility that the district will have to replace its phone system, which it said is out of date. McDowell said the district has maintained it so far but it will need replacement, and preliminary estimates have the cost at about $200,000 for installation throughout the district. The district has underspent in technology the past two years, which could help account for the expenditure once it is made.
There was also some discussion of the budget for 2024-25, which is being affected by 2023 failures of millage requests at the ballot box. McDowell said some budget reductions are being discussed, but overall things are progressing well there.
