Barrow County seeks approvals for IT refresh: workstations, charging stations and backup solution
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Summary
District staff recommended purchases for 120 high-end graphics workstations ($119,640), JAR charging stations ($330,305) and a Cohesity backup solution with multi-year renewal estimates; RFPs and vendor references were discussed.
Barrow County technology staff asked the board May 27 to approve several IT purchases as part of the district’s refresh and 1-to-1 Chromebook program.
ITS staff recommended purchase of 120 high-end graphics workstations from Hypertech USA at $997 per unit, for a total of $119,640, to replace five- to six-year-old desktops in advanced graphics labs such as audio/video and CAD classes. Presenter Mr. St. Clair said references for the low bidder were checked and returned positive comments.
For the district’s 1-to-1 Chromebook deployment, staff proposed purchasing JAR Systems charging stations (6- and 12-bay configurations) from Conquest of Snellville, Georgia, at an initial cost of $330,305 from SPLOST 1-to-1 support funds. The charging stations would give each middle and high school classroom a six-bay charging station and provide larger 12-bay stations for media centers, staff said.
Technology staff also presented a proposal to replace the district backup system with a Cohesity backup solution and recommended Sherlock Technology (also referenced as Kopeski/Sherlock) as low-bid respondent. The packet showed a year-one ITS fund impact of $90,577 and an estimated five-year total of $329,387; in the recommendation text the presenter stated a year-one amount of $757,577 and an expected five-year total of $329,387. Staff said any renewal-year costs exceeding the estimate would be competitively quoted under board purchasing rules.
Why it matters: the purchases support classroom instruction (graphics workstations), the 1-to-1 device program (charging stations) and district data continuity (backup solution). The charging stations and workstation purchases were presented with funding sources and authorization to use the RFP responses for additional purchases through July 31, 2025 if needed.
What’s next: staff recommended awarding contracts and asked the board to authorize use of the RFP responses for additional purchases through July 31, 2025, subject to normal reporting and approvals.