In June 2025, around 75 new SMART Boards were installed in classrooms at MHS. Proposition 3 allowed for dedicated annual funding for technology according to the Rockwood School District Prop 3 Dashboard. The Technology Department was then able to create a multi-year plan to replace older SMART Boards across the district.
According to Bob Deneau, Chief Information Officer, the district purchased and installed 500 new SMART Boards for a little over $2 million. Around half of the high schools, middle schools and elementary schools already have the new panels in place.
These new models are the SMART MX series interactive flat panel. Unlike the older models, the SMART panels don’t have a projector and teachers can choose whether to connect their computers to it directly or use it as a stand alone device.
“They are essentially like a large Android tablet,” Deneau said.
Math and art teachers were given Google Tablets that provide them the opportunity to write and use the board while being away from it. Deneau said that the new boards and tablets allow teachers to be more mobile in their classrooms.
“It gives them more options on how they want to utilize the board,” Deneau said.
To help prepare teachers for this new technology in their classrooms, Rockwood’s technology department offered four half-day training sessions in July. Becky Eaton, instructional technology specialist, helped to train staff to use them during the teacher work days before school started.
When the new boards were first introduced, teachers struggled to use the SMART Boards, Eaton said, but as of now Eaton said that most of the teachers seem to really enjoy their new board after they had gotten used to the new devices.
Eaton works with multiple schools in the district helping teachers adjust to their new boards and troubleshooting different issues with them.
“Every room is unique, and every smart board is unique, and every computer is unique,” Eaton said.
Before the new SMART Boards were installed, teachers had recurring struggles with their boards, and many of them even referred to them as ‘Dumb Boards’, Eaton said.
“I’m hoping now that teachers see when things are working the way they’re supposed to, it really can have a positive impact on the learning in your classroom,” Eaton said.
Rania Baig, sophomore, said the implementation of the new SMART Boards in teachers’ rooms has caused lectures and class instruction to take up more time than is necessary due to technical difficulties.
“A lot of the teachers are struggling, and I don’t think that the [administrators] or the people in charge of putting in the SMART Boards gave them enough directions,” Baig said.
Because the newer boards are more modern, when teachers write on the board it is clearer and easier to understand, Baig said.
Kendall Rackley, math teacher, has been teaching for 10 years at MHS. She prefers the newer board because it has allowed her to move around the room more while teaching, Rackley said..
“Having the [tablet] and being able to mirror my screen has changed my teaching a lot,” Rackley said. “This makes the lecture a little more interactive.”
