RSU 22's technology director presented the district technology plan and FY26 technology budget, proposing an MLTI (Maine Learning Technology Initiative) rollout for an identified grade level and recommending a technology reserve to manage large refresh cycles and potential future E-rate funding uncertainty.

Nate Savage, director of technology, said the district is in year two of a three‑year MLTI cycle and recommended allocating the MLTI purchase to the eighth grade for the coming year. He said the district purchased Chromebooks for a senior cohort the prior year and those devices are returned and passed to incoming freshmen; MLTI purchases are district expenses that are later reimbursed by the state. Savage said the district planned about $101,000 in Chromebook purchases for MLTI reimbursement next year.

Savage described several planned refresh and capital items: a preK iPad refresh (current iPads are aging), a grade 3–5 Chromebook refresh planned for the following year (estimated about $175,000), completion of a three‑year projector refresh program (about $120,000) and two middle‑school audiovisual projects — a projector and sound upgrade for the Wagner stage and a similar package for the Reeds Brook gym — each estimated around $31,000. He said licensing and software renewals, including Google Workspace management, Seesaw for early grades and filtering/monitoring software Securly, represent recurring costs (about $12,000 for Google licensing and about $4,000 for Seesaw in the district allocation described).

Savage recommended a technology reserve fund contribution (he proposed setting aside approximately $70,000–$80,000 per year) to spread the cost of periodic large investments such as staff MacBook replacements and future network refreshes. He noted RSU 22 is on a five‑year E-rate cycle and described the district as a 50% recipient under the program; past cycles produced large reimbursements but future E-rate terms and federal support levels are uncertain.

Board members asked about device choices and staff-device replacement. Savage said staff MacBooks purchased during the pandemic are aging and he recommended replacing teacher devices with MacBooks for staff needs rather than lower‑cost Chromebooks, though he noted larger-screen Chromebooks would be less expensive and may meet some needs. He said most classroom students use Chromebooks, with preK–2 on iPads and grades 3–12 on Chromebooks.

On the new drone program, teachers and administrators described community partnerships and industry interest; Savage did not present operational costs for drones but noted Teach with Tech grant funding had supported earlier purchases and training. Discussion also covered installation contracts: Savage said he obtains competitive quotes and prefers vendor installations with warranties for AV projects.

Savage and board members discussed options to phase installations over multiple years to spread cost; principals preferred completing both middle‑school AV projects in the same year but acknowledged a phased approach could save some installation travel cost.

The director said he will continue to refine reserve recommendations and return to the board with final figures; he recommended funding staff-device replacements partially from the reserve and classroom-student refreshes from annual budgets with MLTI reimbursement where appropriate.