Tolland leadership discusses Windows 11 upgrade and asks town to consider capital funding for tech

Tolland’s superintendent and board discussed a district‑wide transition to Windows 11 and the capital vs. operating treatment of technology purchases.

The superintendent explained the district is in the first year of a multi‑year Windows 11 plan: many existing desktop machines cannot run Windows 11, so the proposed approach is to supply monitors and rely on staff laptops, a change that reduces recurring replacement cycles for monitors compared with full PC replacements. The district presented a hardware request in the hundreds of thousands of dollars (figures discussed in the meeting included a roughly $321,200 hardware request), and board members asked whether those monitor/equipment purchases could be moved into a capital funding stream or covered by a town council special exception.

Why it matters: If the town classifies monitors and other hardware as capital or covers them from the general fund, the district can avoid placing recurring costs in the operating budget. Board members noted the capital process typically closes in October and said they may ask the town council for a special accommodation or seek a quid pro quo as previously done in past cycles.

Board guidance: The chair proposed asking the town council to consider covering capital‑eligible technology purchases, and several board members volunteered to work with the superintendent to craft a short request to the town chair. The superintendent warned that the capital process is already closed for the current cycle but that special exceptions have been negotiated before.

Next steps: Superintendent to prepare dollarized scenarios for Feb. 4 showing the operating impact if technology remains an operating expense versus scenarios where town capital funding or exceptions cover the equipment.

Direct quote: Chair said the district should "start pushing to have our technology added to the capital budget because I think that they have the ability to do so."