Virtual Textbooks Make For Lighter Load

No more excuses.

That's the goal with a brand new, districtwide initiative that makes reading textbooks available on compact disc or online for all first- through fifth-graders at local public schools, making classic excuses for homework null.

"We've had definite enthusiasm from parents," said Dana El Yamani, a reading coach at Pine Grove Elementary School in Spring Hill. "Now, their child can't say they forgot their book at school anymore, because they can access everything online."

The CDs, which came with new textbooks from McGraw Hill's "Treasures" collection, are part of a plan that allows students to bring the CD home with them for homework purposes, under the condition they return the disc at the end of the year.

Pine Grove officials also set up a page on their Web site that allows family members to access the book online, further improving convenience.

"That way, if a student is at grandma's house, they can go online and access it that way," El Yamani said, who has assisted reading coaches at other schools with setting up a family link online.

However, the program has its drawbacks.

At least one local parent said both discs given to her children - who are in second and third grade at Pine Grove - do not work.

Brooksville resident Laura Nelson said the program's concept would be perfect for her third-grader, who routinely forgets his textbook at school.

However, the discs don't work on her computer and no one informed her that the material was available online, she said.

While Nelson is in the process of exchanging the discs for others, she said she also feels the program is not financially considerate for parents.

"If parents don't have computers and can't afford to be online, what good are these things to the district?" she said.

El Yamani said that while data is not yet available on the program's success rate, she is confident that most parents are happy with the new initiative.

District reading specialist Debbie Pfenning had not returned a request for comment by press deadline Friday.