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Pleasantville to modernize phones, cameras and student devices; middle‑school device breakage fell 90%
Summary
Technology director outlined summer projects (VoIP, switch and UPS replacements, camera system migration) and said middle‑school device breakage dropped from ~200 to 20 after device changes; district plans an Apple MacBook rollout at the high school and a recurring refresh model.
The Pleasantville Union Free School District’s technology director told the board the district will pursue several infrastructure upgrades this summer and will continue a migration of student devices toward Apple hardware.
On the infrastructure side, the director said the district will overhaul its VoIP phone system, replace aging network switches (with help from E‑rate federal funds), replace UPS battery backups in network closets, and move to a cloud‑based video management system for security cameras. The security/camera and door‑access work will be coordinated so camera footage and door swipes are managed on a single platform, the director said, and funding for the camera migration is proposed through an interfund transfer.
Talking about classroom technology, the director said device reliability has improved markedly at the middle school: “Our device breakage numbers... have dropped by over 90% this year. At this point last year we had over 200 broken devices. This year I just checked today we have 20.” He said the district’s move to Apple devices and improvements in repair turnaround time have reduced instructional interruptions. The district will proceed with a MacBook rollout for high‑school students next year and plans a recurring refresh cycle (e.g., a device per student cohort for four years) to stabilize replacement planning.
The director also described software consolidation efforts (centralizing many licenses under the technology budget and Lyric/BOCES umbrella) and a planned website upgrade integrated with ParentSquare to streamline communications.
No formal approvals were recorded at the meeting; administrators said details on funding sources (E‑rate, interfund transfer, IPA financing with Lyric) will be discussed further with the business office.
What happens next: technology staff will continue planning summer procurement and will present facilities funding details at a future board meeting.
