After Board Vote, School District Set to Go Wireless This Summer

The Birmingham school board voted Tuesday to approve a contract that will provide wireless connectivity in all the district’s buildings at a cost of $1.9 million.

The contract was awarded to NETech Corp. of Grand Rapids.

“This represents a profound investment,” said Superintendent David Larson, who said this will be first time all classrooms and work spaces throughout the district will have high-speed wireless connectivity.

The funds came out of the district’s capital improvement fund, but Susan Hill, trustee and school board vice president, noted that large expenditures such as these are necessary to keep the district up to date.

“This is the nature of technology expenditures,” she said. “It underscores our need for sustainable sources of technology funding.”

Stephan Palmer, assistant superintendent for instruction, said that as more students bring their own devices to school — from tablet computers to smartphones to laptops — the district has to adapt everything from its infrastructure to teaching methods.

“I forecast that we may see a reduction in district-owned devices,” said Joseph Hoffman, assistant superintendent of technology. “This is a very powerful road we’re going down for our students and teachers.”

The district will begin work outfitting district buildings this summer. Hoffman said that while $1.9 million may seem like a lot, it's more economical to outfit all the buildings and upgrade the district’s main servers at once.

School board quick hits

Other short briefs from the school board meeting include:

• School board president Lori Soifer read a statement from the Board of Education about at . “We condemn any incidents of harassment,” Soifer said, “but it’s how the community responds that shows the spirit of the school.”
• During a report on financial statements for the month of March, Debbie Piesz, assistant superintendent for business services, said the district's cafeteria fund was experiencing a small loss, putting a strain on the budget. She said the loss is due to higher food prices, which can be attributed to higher gasoline prices and unstable weather in the southeast.
• The district has plans for one layoff so far this year, effective June 30. The district will cut one counseling position at due to restructuring among staffing, reducing the department from three to two counselors. Jon Dean, assistant superintendent for human services, said the move isn’t due to budget issues.