Sherry Steisen, director of technology innovation, gave a written report and presentation on technology projects completed in FY25 and planned changes for next year. She said the technology team completed security upgrades, implemented visitor check-in and multi-factor authentication, deployed multilingual digital signage, and piloted AI instructional tools.

“We implemented multi factor authentication to make sure that our systems are secure,” Steisen said. She described Securely Pass deployment at the middle school, the districtwide rollout for the coming year, and a QR-code login for younger students. Steisen said the district will move to the Illinois Century Network (ICN) for internet service in July; ICN provides Internet service to Illinois districts at no charge while the district pays for the last-mile connection.

On action items, the board approved the purchase of 1,525 Chromebooks to replace out-of-warranty devices at a cost of $686,097.50 (motion carried 4–0) and approved an emergency fiber relocation requested by Lake County at a cost not to exceed $40,974.36 (motion carried 4–0).

Steisen also described cost-saving measures including consolidating digital resource licenses, leveraging E-rate discounts for network equipment, and replacing MacBook Pro devices with MacBook Air laptops for lower-cost fleet refreshes. Board members asked questions about ICN and last-mile arrangements; Steisen said she would follow up with details about who pays the last-mile provider.