Weston budget includes phased laptop leases, ongoing software increases and a $12,000 AI placeholder

Dan DeVito, the district technology lead, told the board the district uses leasing for major hardware (48-month leases with a $1 buyout) and said the staff laptops are at the end of their useful life: aging hardware, Windows 11 performance issues and a shortage of replacement parts have left many devices failing.

"The current staff laptops are 5 years old, and they're nearing the end of their functional life. With the Microsoft mandated upgrade to Windows 11, our staff laptops have become even slower, and they're overheating more frequently," DeVito said. He added there have been "several hundred work orders" for staff laptops since September 2025 and that the FY27 request for staff laptops is $370,000 total with an FY27 budgetary impact of a little under $100,000 because of lease-phasing.

DeVito said most software increases result from annual vendor subscription cost increases (some closer to 10% than the typical 3%). The FY27 budget adds one new software placeholder — a $12,000 subscription for an AI product — while the district AI advisory committee reviews vendor proposals and will recommend next steps. On staffing, DeVito said the technology team includes four building-based technicians and three district-level specialists (7 FTE total) and that the team handles roughly 850 support tickets per quarter.

Board members and staff discussed trade-offs of phasing or delaying replacements and potential effects on the six-year technology plan. DeVito said delaying replacements would push other planned replacements out and could increase future costs as systems fall out of support.