Board hears updates on bonds, cybersecurity MFA and RFID bus cards; $9.5M bond funds arriving Dec. 15
Summary
Officials told trustees that $9.5 million in bond proceeds will be received Dec. 15 for Farnsworth and Urban schools, IT will require Google multifactor authentication for staff, and more than two-thirds of bus trips now use RFID student cards to track ridership.
During the facilities and finance portions of the Dec. 8 meeting, district staff reported several operational and capital updates.
Mark reported that the $9,500,000 in bonds the board approved last month will be received Dec. 15 and that the district is arranging investments for the proceeds. He also referenced an estimated $7,000,000 interest figure tied to an earlier $93,000,000 bond issue. "We'll be ready to go on the fifteenth with that," Mark said about receiving the $9.5 million.
IT leaders Wayne Eshin and Pat O'Connor presented a cybersecurity plan that will require Google multifactor authentication (MFA) for all staff Google accounts to reduce phishing and unauthorized access. Mark said the district has experienced phishing incidents where accounts were compromised and staff impersonation followed.
Tanner Picciuti reported on transportation: the RFID card system used to log students' bus trips is now active for over two-thirds of bus trips with a goal of full adoption.
Board members thanked staff for website and communications upgrades that will support referendum outreach and parent messaging; the district's new parent app and mass-communication tools were described as enabling translated messages and one-click distribution to multiple channels.
No action was required on the bond investments or the cybersecurity rollout at the meeting; these were reported as operational updates and implementation tasks for administration and IT.
