Hillsboro school board discusses technology
Lead Summary
By
Brandy Chandler-brandychandler@gmail.com
The Hillsboro City Schools Board of Education has approved the purchase of a computer system that IT staff say will help the district support the technologies now, and will help facilitate future growth.
Hillsboro City Schools technology coordinator Kevin Black addressed the board during their regular meeting this week, and recommended that the board approve MNJ Technologies for a storage upgrade project in the amount of$48,986.38, along with an additional fee for maintenance for a year.
The funds for the hardware for the project will come out of the permanent improvement fund, according to district treasurer Debbie Lawwell. The software and maintenance costs will come out of the technology fund. Lawwell said the permanent improvement fund is at a little over $1 million.
Black said that the project involves the installation of, "An array of hard drives that work with multiple servers. We have approximately nine servers right now. This is in anticipation for things like (mandated) email archive. It will allow the hard drives to work better together. It allows us to have all the drives available to all the servers, and better service between."
Four years ago, when he first became technology coordinator, Black said that the district had one server. The district hired a consultant that advised them to invest in a new server, he said, and since then they have gone up to nine servers.
"The data has just kept expanding," Black said.
With district's increasing implementation of technology, Black said that very large amounts of data have to be stored, and memory is needed to keep programs running.
The need for more memory and work between the servers is only going to keep increasing as different technologies are continue to be implemented.
"In the long run, it will be a significant savings to the district,"
Black said.
Hillsboro Superintendent Rick Earley said, "With the direction we're
heading, I don't think we have a choice."
Black said that the system will provide better backup protection, and will allow upgrades to be made without taking down entire systems.
"This will allow us to keep expanding," Black said.
The board voted 5-0 to approve the project.
In other business:
• Student board member Jessica Aber was sworn in to serve on the board for the 2011-2012 school year.
• The board voted 6-0 to approve the district's participation in the Ohio Board of Regents Grant for Science Education program. According to Earley, the program is through Wright State University, and will give up to 20 educators in the district the opportunity to receive a master's degree over a three-year period.
Earley said the teachers will go to Duke University for a week during the summer, and that there is approximately one night a week of course work at Wright State during the three years.
The program is at no cost to the teachers or to the district. The district will start with teachers in grades six through 12, and then will go to lower grades and possibly branch out to other districts in order have 20 participants. The board members said that the program is a great opportunity for the teachers and the schools, and voted 6-0 to OK participation.
• Lawwell reported that the cash balance for the end of August was $5,571,460, compared to $4,092,599 this time last year. The expenses for the month, she said, were a little high, at $1,828,509.
The Hillsboro City Schools Board of Education has approved the purchase of a computer system that IT staff say will help the district support the technologies now, and will help facilitate future growth.
Hillsboro City Schools technology coordinator Kevin Black addressed the board during their regular meeting this week, and recommended that the board approve MNJ Technologies for a storage upgrade project in the amount of$48,986.38, along with an additional fee for maintenance for a year.
The funds for the hardware for the project will come out of the permanent improvement fund, according to district treasurer Debbie Lawwell. The software and maintenance costs will come out of the technology fund. Lawwell said the permanent improvement fund is at a little over $1 million.
Black said that the project involves the installation of, "An array of hard drives that work with multiple servers. We have approximately nine servers right now. This is in anticipation for things like (mandated) email archive. It will allow the hard drives to work better together. It allows us to have all the drives available to all the servers, and better service between."
Four years ago, when he first became technology coordinator, Black said that the district had one server. The district hired a consultant that advised them to invest in a new server, he said, and since then they have gone up to nine servers.
"The data has just kept expanding," Black said.
With district's increasing implementation of technology, Black said that very large amounts of data have to be stored, and memory is needed to keep programs running.
The need for more memory and work between the servers is only going to keep increasing as different technologies are continue to be implemented.
"In the long run, it will be a significant savings to the district,"
Black said.
Hillsboro Superintendent Rick Earley said, "With the direction we're heading, I don't think we have a choice."
Black said that the system will provide better backup protection, and will allow upgrades to be made without taking down entire systems.
"This will allow us to keep expanding," Black said.
The board voted 5-0 to approve the project.
In other business:
• Student board member Jessica Aber was sworn in to serve on the board for the 2011-2012 school year.
• The board voted 6-0 to approve the district's participation in the Ohio Board of Regents Grant for Science Education program. According to Earley, the program is through Wright State University, and will give up to 20 educators in the district the opportunity to receive a master's degree over a three-year period.
Earley said the teachers will go to Duke University for a week during the summer, and that there is approximately one night a week of course work at Wright State during the three years.
The program is at no cost to the teachers or to the district. The district will start with teachers in grades six through 12, and then will go to lower grades and possibly branch out to other districts in order have 20 participants. The board members said that the program is a great opportunity for the teachers and the schools, and voted 6-0 to OK participation.
• Lawwell reported that the cash balance for the end of August was $5,571,460, compared to $4,092,599 this time last year. The expenses for the month, she said, were a little high, at $1,828,509.
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