School district technology director: On track to cut spending $140,000

At mid-March, the technology department in the Fairfield Community School District has spent $181,800 less than last year.

?I?m very impressed,? said school board member Jeri Kunkle at Monday?s meeting. ?At the beginning of this year, we asked you to find $100,000 in savings and I thought that was a very steep task.?

Mark Cremer, director of technology, said he hopes to end the fiscal year on June 30 with $140,000 less expenditures than last year.

He outlined future plans and provided a complete inventory list of computers, printers, servers, switches, wireless access, laptop carts and battery backups, along with building locations and age of equipment.

?Next year, our elementary schools will get computer labs back,? said Cremer. ?I want to buy equipment and replace the iMacs in the high school?s media center lab. I want to replace two iMac labs at the middle school. Those iMacs will be moved to the elementary schools. Our software programs used in the younger grades don?t work on the newer computers, but can be run on these iMac. We don?t want to buy all new programs when we have the platforms that will work.?

Cremer said he would get one more netbooks cart for the high school.

?The credit for the new computer lab at the high school goes to Brent Bochmann and Fred?s [McElwee] crew,? he said. ?I?d like our other computer labs to go that way ? clean up wires. Next year, I want to clean up our technology infrastructure.?

Cremer has provided a pilot program to Fairfield Middle School social studies teacher Jennifer Mangler this semester.

?It?s rather like a reverse one-on-one,? he said. ?I?ve provided her with enough laptops for her highest number of students in a class. The students use the laptops in class, but leave them there and the next class uses them. So they stay with the teacher instead of going with the student. Jennifer will share what she learns in this pilot study.?

The school district?s policy for computer use will see some changes to be in compliance, said Cremer.

?Our acceptable use will be updated and in place by July 1,? he said. ?It needs to be in two separate policies for students and staff.

?We also have to have a board policy about how we?ll provide Internet safety training. That policy should be a program for use at the youngest level of students who use email, with a follow-up at each level building in the district.?

An administrator said second graders get an email password because it?s needed to access some of the programs used in instructions.

In other business Monday, the school board:

? Learned Fairfield High School has created a new link on the district website to Project Lead the Way class information. It was an idea from discussions with PLTW?s community partnership committee.

? Heard FHS senior Sarah Flinspach support the concept of a music suite in renovations of the high school building.

?We have a very successful program,? she said. ?The band consistently earns Division I ratings. There is a high percentage of participation in band and choir. If you think the band room is adequate, please come visit it during a class period.

?The hallway is used for instrument storage.?

She elaborated more about lack of space and reminded the school board that any improvements would not affect her, so she was not asking from a selfish point of view.

?How many more Division I ratings does the program need to earn before it receives an upgrade?? she asked.

Audience and school board members applauded as she sat down. Monday?s meetings started out with a big crowd, as several high school students in speech, wrestling and bowling were individually recognized with handshakes and certificates.

? Approved Jennifer Bradfield as a volunteer coach for girls? tennis for the 2012 season.