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District technology director outlines $19,000 in recent savings; software remains a major recurring cost
Summary
The district's technology lead said selling old devices and switching services saved about $19,000 last year, but annual software and licensing costs still total approximately $80,000 and remain a pressure point for future budgets.
Braden, the district technology lead, told the board the department has found multiple small savings to help offset budget pressure even as baseline software costs remain substantial.
This past summer staff sold older MacBooks and iPads and generated $72,719 in proceeds used to offset new purchases, Braden said. He listed other actions that together saved roughly $19,000 in the past year: switching asset‑management systems saved about $8,107 annually, moving server infrastructure saved about $6,343 annually and adopting state‑provided endpoint protection saved roughly $1,500.
"Altogether, I've got about $19,000 in the last year," Braden said, and noted that those gains helped reduce the department's software budget but the broader annual software and licensing bill remains near $80,000 a year.
Braden also described hardware‑purchase decisions (refurbished servers) and the tradeoffs of removing certain paid services that were underused. The technology savings were presented as verifiable, near‑term reductions that can be shown in line‑item budgets, while some larger software contracts (PowerSchool, Microsoft Office, filtering and content‑awareness tools) are less flexible in the short term.
The board thanked the technology team and asked for continued updates on software renewals and potential contract renegotiations that could reduce recurring costs.
