LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A new project in the Jefferson County Public Schools district aims to help students and teachers hear each other better. 

“Once you’ve taught with the audio enhancement technology, it’s really hard to go back,” Sarah Dries, a second grade teacher at Norton Commons Elementary School, said of the new devices JCPS is buying for every school building.

Norton Commons Elementary School already uses the devices, one of four in the district that paid for them out of their own budgets.

Dries said she used the devices before when she worked at a school where she worked with children that had auditory processing disorders. “I received it to use it in the entire class and noticed what a difference it made with everyone,” she said. “So when I came here, and we had them to use with the whole class, it just makes things that much better for all students.”

The devices for teachers have a microphone hooked up to speakers in the classroom. There’s also a handheld microphone for students to use.

Jonathan Hall, a fourth grade student at Norton Commons, said it helps. “It’s loud, but that loud is really helpful,” he said. “My class is a little bit noisy, so when they’re noisy, it helps me hear the directions so I don’t miss a step.”

Three other schools currently have the technology as well, but JCPS is buying them for the entire district at a cost of about $175,000 per school.  

Superintendent Marty Pollio said it’s a matter of equity, with schools in the poorest areas getting the technology first. “We gotta make sure every classroom has this, every teacher has this and every student has it,” he said.

The device also allows teachers to communicate with administrators and other teachers in case of a medical emergency or security threat.

There is one drawback with it though, according to Dries. “Sometimes wearing it home instead of taking it off,” she said. “It needs to charge every night.” But she said that’s a pretty easy thing to live with for all the benefits it brings.