(Atlantic, Iowa) – Atlantic Community School District Technology Director Roger Warne, Wednesday, provided the School Board with his annual review of technology improvements in the district, and a cost estimate of the anticipated new tech and improvements this year. Warne said last Summer, they installed 16 new cameras and systems at Washington Elementary.

He said the original camera system, which is still in use, is a great system, but there are things Warne doesn’t like about it due to the costs associated with the system. Other cameras and systems were added to the Middle School office over the Christmas break, as well as at the EOC office. At the High School, access point (AP) nodes were replaced because they were coming to the end of their useful life. The improvements were made possible in-part because they were “E-Rate” eligible.

Warne said there are 26 AP’s at Washington and Schuler that will need to be replaced this Summer. The current AP technology is no longer supported by the company who supplied the devices. The District’s share of cost for the Access Point devices will run about $5,000-to 10-thousand dollars. Roger Warne said last summer they went around and replaced the point of entry control boxes and software, because they were out of date.

Roger Warne

He said one of the big things as far as the District’s Capital Improvement Projects Plan (CIP) is to rollover all the rest of the certified staff laptop computers.

He said he also needs to start replacing Uninterruptible Power Supplies (UPS) [battery back-up power] for computers – which is also E-Rate eligible. The current UPS batteries are losing their power memory

He says his goal is to be able to keep everything running, especially when the power flickers, which causes some computers to “blurp” their displays. The district could look into generators, but those are very costly. He also plans to replace some of the computers switcher units, which are more than 10-years old.

Another thing Roger Warne says he’s working on, is “Event response.”

He said they will use a company to train their staff on how to respond to potential e-mail viruses and cyber threats. Warne said it’s also a good time to consider replacing student Chrome Book laptops, because the costs are only going to go up.

Board President Kristy Pellet said the district should probably plan for $500,000 in technology expenditures in the future. Warne’s current expenditures amount to approximately $300,000.