Report: LAUSD Superintendent Wants Board Member Emails In Relation To iPad Program
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — The LAUSD Superintendent is seeking records of the written correspondence between school board members and tech companies involved in the district's iPad program, the Los Angeles Times reports.
According to the paper, John Deasy has filed a public records request seeking emails and other documents exchanged over a more than 2.5-year period between five school board members and 18 companies involved with the $1.3 billion iPad project.
Some of those companies include Apple, HP, Dell and Pearson.
Until recently, Deasy has been at the center of the fallout over the iPad initiative, which was designed to give every student, teacher and administrator in the district a tablet.
A state assemblyman and United Teachers Los Angeles have asked Deasy for more information about how the LAUSD handled bidding for the iPad program, suggesting he and another deputy superintendent may have had inappropriate dealings with Apple before the contract was awarded.
Deasy has denied any misconduct and stated the type of contact he had with vendors was routine. He also stressed that he recused himself from the contract vote because of Apple stock he formerly had in his retirement plan, the Times reported.
Deasy claims school board members have had their own contact with technology companies in the past, including taking campaign donations, the Times said.
Future purchases under the current iPad program have been suspended.
The program has experienced numerous problems since its rollout including controversy over costs, students gaining access to restricted websites and missing iPads.
A request for comment from Deasy and his attorneys has yet to returned to CBS2/KCAL9.
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