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District technology plan: E-rate, device replacements and cybersecurity priorities outlined
Summary
Technology staff told the board the district is in the final year of an E-rate cycle, will proceed with a staggered device replacement plan for students and staff, and is continuing investments in cybersecurity and copier replacement.
Technology staff presented the district's multi-year technology plan, emphasizing E-rate funding, a device replacement schedule, network upgrades and cybersecurity initiatives.
Mr. Heffman said E-rate provides approximately $167 per student spread over five years and that the district is nearing the end of the current five-year cycle; the technology budget has about $10,000 remaining for maintenance renewals at the data center. He reported that fiber connectivity to the new elementary school is in place at an estimated $120 per month after E-rate discounts.
Device replacement will proceed on a five-year rotation, Heffman said: next year will focus on fifth through eighth graders, followed by the high school the subsequent year and elementary devices in 2027'28. Staff laptops for the intermediate school will be replaced next year, with teachers given the option of Chromebooks or laptops. The technology team noted that Chromebooks selected by many teachers in recent years have been well received.
Heffman reported recent infrastructure upgrades, including replacement of main network switches and the district's adoption of CrowdStrike for endpoint security. The technology team uses Cybernet for phishing training and said staff click rates on simulated phishing have improved by more than 10 percentage points since the start of the school year.
For the upcoming elementary additions and remodel at the intermediate school, the technology department plans to perform some updates in-house to reduce costs. Board members asked about the history of Chromebook deployment and numbers planned for the new building; staff said the district is replenishing and reallocating existing devices and will add devices for kindergarten through fourth grade as needed.
