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Northshore proposes tech levy up to $40M a year to maintain devices, add AI-enabled tools and staff
Summary
Technology leaders proposed four tiered tech-levy scenarios at a Sept. 8 study session: baseline steady-state investments (~$25M/year) and expanded tiers to $30M, $35M and about $40M per year to cover device replacement, core licensing, digital curriculum, universal design and additional staffing, with an enterprise learning-analytics proposal.
At a Sept. 8 study session, technology staff presented a tiered proposal for a 2026 technology levy that would run on a four‑year cycle alongside other ballot measures. Forrest Baker, the district’s executive director of technology, said the levy’s baseline investment preserves a four-year replacement cycle for student and staff devices and funds critical software licensing; expanded tiers would add curriculum subscriptions, staffing and enterprise analytics.
Baker and Shelby Reynolds, assistant director of instructional technology and library services, said the district maintains roughly 25,000 active student devices in its fleet with about 21,000 used daily under the 1:1 commitment and that the plan is to replace approximately 5,000 student devices per year to sustain a four‑year cycle. Staff identified several steady-state items (student devices, teacher computers, critical licensing and district operational staff) and then additional tiers that would add digital learning resources, implementation staffing, presentation-panel maintenance and universal-design tools.
Staff described four budget tiers: a baseline steady-state investment (presented near a $25M/year benchmark), a $30M and a $35M tier with additional services, and a full-advance tier at about $40M per year that would include specialized program equipment, district-wide AV, learning analytics and additional instructional-technology coordinators and operational staff. The materials listed software such as Schoology and Seesaw, and staff said many systems now include AI-enabled features; they emphasized AI is embedded across products rather than shown as a single line item.
A board member asked whether the levy should emphasize professional development rather than devices; staff responded that some PD levels are contract-determined (bargaining table) and that the levy funds a range of professional-learning modalities. Staff also acknowledged bargaining constraints but said implementation staffing and training will be part of rollout conversations.
Staff committed to provide the board with household-impact examples and clarified that the tiered figures shown are presentations for board direction, not final ballot-language selections.
