The Lincoln County Board of Education is awaiting state approvalto begin the installation of a mathematics computer laboratory atEnterprise Attendance Center.

Assistant Superintendent Leetha H. Presley said the mathematicslab would essentially extend the school’s Accelerated Math program,which currently only serves grades five through seven, tokindergarten through eighth grade.

The board hopes the new computer lab will improve the students’mathematical comprehension.

“Math is one of our weaker areas on the Mississippi CurriculumTest,” Presley said during Monday’s school board meeting. “Thiscomputer lab is geared toward student achievement; everything we dois for student achievement.

“When students work in this lab, we should see an increase intheir scores on the MCT and ACT, and an increase in graduationrates,” she said.

To purchase and install the mathematics computer lab and itsaccompanying software, the board is prepared to spend $108,419.28in Title I funds, which are federal funds provided by the U.S.Department of Education for professional and educationaldevelopment for schools with a high percentage of students fromlow-income families.

Of the more than $108,000 devoted to the purchase of the mathlab, the board will spend $75,600 to purchase 26 new computers andthe necessary accompanying equipment, such as 150 Texas Instrumentsalgebraic calculators. More than $18,000 will be spent to purchasethree different mathematical instructional programs and thenecessary software, and slightly more than $14,000 will go towardhiring software consultants to train the faculty on the use of thenew software.

The expenditure was approved by the board, but before Title Ifunds can be spent, state approval is required.

Presley said the state will not begin processing recent Title Irequests until January. She does, however, expect the math lab tobe approved, and hopes to begin purchasing the equipment inFebruary.

After the new computer lab has been in operation at Enterprise,the board hopes to install similar labs at its three other schools.School officials expect to see positive results.

“We’re just starting off at Enterprise to evaluate theseprograms,” Presley said. “We plan to expand these programs to ourother schools at later dates. We aren’t just throwing money away onthis. These programs have been tried and researched and been provento work.”