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Board of Education asks council to reallocate $1.2 million to replace aging school devices
Summary
School officials and their IT contractor told the finance committee the district needs roughly $1.2 million to replace laptops, Chromebooks and other endpoints after COVID-era devices aged out; the funds were proposed by shifting money away from renovations at Carrigan/Kerrigan school.
Officials from the West Haven school district and its IT contractor told the city's finance committee on Monday that district technology purchased or distributed during the COVID period is reaching the end of its useful life and that the Board of Education has proposed redirecting capital funds to cover an initial phase of device replacements.
A school official told the council the district currently has about 6,000 Chromebooks in use, 655 staff laptops averaging seven to eight years old, and roughly 370 workstations averaging six to seven years old. The district asked the city to reallocate roughly $1.2 million previously earmarked for Carrigan (Kerrigan) school window, door and flooring projects toward technology upgrades district-wide.
"We have 728 devices is the number that I have," said Jeff Grandy, a Van Cort principal supporting the district's IT plan, describing the initial replacement target. Grandy and Van Cort colleague Michael Grandy said the first phase would focus on laptops and Chromebooks for students and staff; they said warranties for many devices run three years and that a rolling five-year replacement plan is typical.
Finance Director Michael Gormeny said the proposed reallocation is incorporated into the bond ordinance the council is considering and that the numbers are included in the city's five-year debt plan. "When you look at what you have before you, that BOE number includes the 1,200,000 redesignation already," Gormeny said.
Council members questioned the scope of the request, asking whether the plan covers infrastructure such as wireless access points and data-center upgrades, what percentage of devices would be new versus refurbished and how the district will budget future replacement cycles. School and vendor representatives said the initial $1.2 million request covers primarily hardware (endpoints) and that software licensing is typically budgeted annually out of local operating funds.
Council members also discussed alternatives to bonding, including leasing and phasing purchases over multiple years. The district's presenters said leasing had been used in the past and that given procurement lead times one to two years in advance is often required to secure devices.
The technology request is part of a larger package of capital projects the council has scheduled for a Jan. 27 public hearing as part of the city's proposed bond ordinance. Council members asked staff and the district to provide inventories and more detailed cost breakdowns ahead of any vote.
