Barnegat board adds and approves Apogee communications platform contract, $31,800 setup and first-year cost

Board members added an agenda correction to include financial specifics for Apogee, a district communications platform, and subsequently approved the health, safety and technology committee motion that included the Apogee contract.

The agenda addition specified an annual fee of $22,800 and a one-time setup cost of $9,000, for a total purchase cost of $31,800, with the contract to commence in January 2025. The Health, Safety & Technology committee described Apogee as an integrated communications system that centralizes website, social media, email, text alerts, an app with two-way messaging, and multilingual translation.

Committee presenters and the director of student services emphasized features intended to improve family engagement and emergency notification capability: parents can receive messages in their device's language, teachers can send updates that parents can respond to, and the district receives a branded mobile app and website hub. "It translates into the language that you have your app set at," a committee presenter said, stressing the platform's accessibility value.

The board approved the motion by roll call during the health/safety/technology motions; recorded votes were affirmative and the motion carried. Implementation details, including integration with Genesis and Google Classroom and staff training, were discussed; the director indicated further setup and staff training would follow the contract start date.