Paris school board authorizes superintendent to finalize up to $700,000 audio and safety system upgrade

The Paris Independent School Board on March 17 authorized Superintendent McCauley to sign a contract of up to $700,000 for districtwide audio and safety upgrades aimed at improving classroom instruction and emergency response.

Superintendent McCauley told the board the project would “completely update our PA systems across the district,” adding that the package includes ceiling speakers in classrooms, teacher microphones worn on lanyards, translator licenses and hallway/TV alert panels. McCauley said the system’s emergency features would allow building staff to pinpoint a room in a lockdown and that certain lanyard‑microphones can trigger an alert to the front office; “A teacher could push this button 3 times, and they would know,” he said.

The district plans to use leftover funds from the preschool project to pay for roughly half the expense, with the other half coming from remaining preschool‑campus project funds, McCauley said. Board members sought clarification on technical needs; staff said the system will require network drops and use Power over Ethernet for many units, and that some devices connect wirelessly to local amplifiers.

Board members also asked about accessibility. McCauley said the vendor has ADA/translation components and that the district will explore any additional state or federal funding options to cover accommodations. The authorization allows the superintendent to finalize contract details and issue a purchase order so work can begin this summer.

The motion, made and seconded during the meeting, carried on a voice vote. The board did not provide a roll call tally in the record.

Next steps: the superintendent will finalize contract revisions based on the campus walkthroughs already completed and return a purchase order for summer installation.