Caledonia board approves $457,000 classroom AV contract, network upgrades and custodial equipment amid staff questions

Caledonia Community Schools’ Board of Education approved several technology and operations purchases during its Feb. 9 meeting, voting to authorize a $457,000 classroom instructional-technology contract, a $23,956 low-voltage cabling contract, $42,210 in network switch hardware and a $29,500 custodial equipment purchase.

A board member moved to approve the classroom audio-visual package and associated cabling, saying the purchases would allow the district to move forward with planned instructional-technology upgrades. The motion passed on a roll call with all present voting yes.

The board then approved a $42,210 purchase of network switch hardware from Sentinel Technologies Incorporated. Staff noted those network items relate to bond-funded movements and that the procurement will increase the district’s capacity.

The most contested procurement was a $29,500 custodial-equipment purchase described in the packet as an automated cleaning unit. Board members pressed staff and vendor representatives for specifics about the unit’s capabilities. One board member said, “I personally don’t have any questions about this. I think what we heard from our market operations is that this is actually going to be freeing up time for our custodial staff to be working on other tasks,” while another board member expressed concern about losing positions, saying they were “not in favor of seeing where we're giving up jobs for automation.”

Facilities staff responded that the machines under consideration are commercial vacuums and that automated scrubbers and vacuums are separate devices. Staff stated the unit uses a lithium battery they expect to last about 10 years and estimated a replacement cost in the $2,000–$3,000 range if replacement were required soon; they also said the vendor includes an initial set of consumables and that the unit does not require a subscription service for mapping.

A board member asked about insurance and fire risks related to lithium batteries; staff answered that lithium technology is widely used and that, in their assessment, the lithium units are safer than the lead-acid batteries currently in some ride-behind scrubbers. Staff also said the unit can be remapped to other district buildings and that initial deployment will be at the North Campus.

After discussion, the motion to purchase the custodial unit was called and approved on roll call. The unanimous or near-unanimous votes on the technology and custodial items were recorded by the secretary.

Next steps: staff will finalize contracts and return any required implementation details to the board.