Fortnite is coming to Wichita public schools as esports receives $544K in funding
The world of esports is coming soon to a majority of high schools in the Wichita public school district.
The Wichita Board of Education approved a motion in Thursday afternoon’s meeting to use up to $544,400 out of the technology budget to purchase 320 desktop computers designed for gaming and distribute them at four high schools (Northwest, South, Southeast and West), four middle schools (Coleman, Hamilton, Marshall and Wilbur) and Education Imagine Academy.
Esports is now an extra-curricular activity at the schools, as the motion, which passed with a 6-1 vote, also enrolls the five high schools in the High School Esports League for three years at $3,000 per school for a total enrollment of $15,000. Along with the clubs, an elective class called “Gaming Concepts” will be offered at the high school level.
During a time when the coronavirus pandemic has threatened sports, esports is something that can be safety done this coming school year.
Students at each high school will be able to compete on varsity club teams against other high school students in four different video games: Fortnite, League of Legends, Rocket League and Overwatch. Middle school students will have access to Minecraft and Rocket League.
The clubs are expected to be extremely popular. Rob Dickson, the district’s chief information officer who made the presentation to the board, said he can “guarantee there will be hundreds of kids in this club,” with hopes they can start competing as soon as this winter and potentially create a Wichita metro league.
“One of the No. 1 things that our community and our business leaders tell us day after day after day is, ‘We need problem-solving and critical thinkers,’” superintendent Alicia Thompson said. “If we don’t expose our kids and give kids opportunities to practice how to do that, we’re missing the mark on what our community has asked us to do.
“As we continue to move in the direction of our strategy plan, we’ve got to think differently about what we expose our students to or we’re going to continue to be missing the mark of what is going to transform our communities and what they’re going to be looking for in the next generation of workers. The way we’ve done things in the past are great, but we’ve got to begin to shift. We’ve got to start thinking about how we keep up with that, so we’re giving our communities the best that we can with the resources that we have available.”
During the half-hour discussion, many of the board members were convinced that the introduction of esports can help with creative thinking and problem-solving and spur higher graduation rates.
“I see this as a connector, exactly like sports are a connector, music is a connector,” said Sheril Logan, board president. “It’s another way to give kids the opportunity to participate in an extra-curricular activity and get buy-in into the school and keep their grades up and attending on times and all of the things we know helps kids.”
In his presentation, Dickson said esports make sense because “it’s meeting the kids where they’re at.”
“The more we can connect the dots for our kids in those activities to what they’re doing in class, I think it’s important for us to do that,” Dickson said. “It also helps our kids to have an awareness of that whole learning style. They are building a ton of strategy and a ton of situational awareness.
“I think you can tackle a lot of different problems with this. If you have problems in your building with attendance, you could put the class (Gaming Concepts) at period one. I’m sure you would have every kid on time to school. It’s creating opportunities to meet those kids where they’re at.”
The biggest concerns against the motion were raised by board member Mike Rodee, who was the lone dissenting vote.
“My concern is spending $544,000 during a time where we’re economically strapped,” Rodee said. “I get what everybody is saying and I’m not against the concept (of esports). What concerns me is I’d rather us spend $544,000 on infrastructure because next year we’re looking at budget cuts even bigger than we are this year, according to the state funding that we’ve been seeing.
“If that happens to be true and we take a budget cut in January because tax revenues are behind, how are we going to make this up? To have 320 computers sitting in a room somewhere doesn’t seem economically correct to me.”
Rodee suggested students could bring their own gaming equipment, while the school district could pay for the entry feeds into the gaming league to give them the opportunity to compete. Dickson countered that many students interested in gaming might not be able to compete if they are required to provide their own equipment.
“You think about the neediest of kids who might want to be a part of this opportunity but can’t, that’s where this (funding) comes into play,” Dickson said. “This is where you can really start to level the playing field.”
“I get that comment and I know there are kids out there where this would be a great thing to have them be doing,” Rodee responded. “But you’ve got to look at 50,000 kids and not just 320.”
Those concerns weren’t echoed by Rodee’s fellow board members. Thompson pointed out that the funding is coming from the technology portion of the budget and that money is going to be spent regardless, so a forward-thinking idea like this was worth it.
She also closed the meeting saying that she had met with Wichita State about the future of esports and the university is currently designing a degree around it — another potential benefit for Wichita students.
“Our kids not only will they learn these skills, but they can get money to go to college,” Thompson said. “A lot of those kids, when they graduate from college with those degrees, they’ll be snatched up before they can even get out of their seat. We want our kids to have those opportunities, as well.”
This story was originally published July 30, 2020 at 5:39 PM.
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