BALDWIN COUNTY, Ala. (WPMI) The Baldwin County School Board makes several big decisions to improve the school system.
The board has decided to expand the Digital Renaissance to middle schools.
The $3 million move places Mac Book Airs in the hands of all middle school students and teachers.
The students would get the laptops at the start of the 2013-2014 school year, and Dr. Alan Lee says he wants teachers to get the laptops before students so they can become familiar with them.
Representatives from Apple were on hand to present Baldwin County the elite Apple Distinguished School honor, a prestigious status given to less than a hundred schools nationwide and less than 200 worldwide.
"The outstanding progress Baldwin County High School has achieved is regularly recognized by Apple; we talk about the tremendous achievements of Baldwin County High School across the country and where ever we go around the world," said Apple's Ron Nieto.
The board also voted unanimously to provide all employees a one percent pay raise.
The increase will be effective July 1, 2013 and will cost the district $1,607,270.
The last time school system employees received an increase in pay was during the 2007-2008 school year.
"We appreciate our hardworking employees. The Board and I recognize our employees have gone several years without a raise; While it's not possible to sustain a higher increase in pay at this time, we're glad that we can provide this one percent raise and we hope the economy will improve so that we can do more in the future," said Superintendent, Dr. Alan T. Lee.
The Board also voted 6-1 to extend Dr. Lee's contract.
The new contract is for four years and does not include a pay raise. It did include one additional week of vacation and a reduction in the required notice of contract termination from six months notice to three months.
