Boardman school officials discuss technology

January 8, 2017 at 12:05a.m.

BOARDMAN

Boardman schools are equipped with plenty of technology, including more than 4,200 computer devices across the district, so it’s imperative that the high-tech capabilities continue to be used in the most effective manner for all teachers and students, board members contend.

During their two-hour special meeting Saturday morning at Boardman Center Intermediate School, school officials discussed in detail the district’s 4,255 technological devices, which include wireless access points and Chromebooks, which resemble small laptop computers on which students can write papers and conduct research. In addition, teachers can use them to share curriculum content, noted John P. Landers, the new board president.

The board named Landers president during an organizational meeting before the special session. Jeffrey R. Barone was named vice president.

Part of the district’s technology allocation comes from a $250,000 permanent-improvement fund, Landers explained.

Superintendent Tim Saxton discussed a proposed five-year lease-purchase plan that would call for replacing 10 school buses by leasing eight and buying two others, all of which would be in the fleet by the start of the 2017-18 school year. The plan should allow the district to stay within its $350,000 yearly allotted budget for bus replacements, Saxton said.

After the Ohio School Boards Association looks at the specifics, and if the board adopts the plan at its next meeting, the buses should arrive by late summer, the superintendent continued.

Jack Zocolo, the district’s director of operations, provided updates on the new bus garage, which will be built off Tod Avenue and will replace the one on McClurg Road, which is an area of heavy traffic next to the Boardman YMCA and St Elizabeth Boardman Hospital.

The new garage will be on a piece of property the district received last year in a land exchange with the township. As part of the swap, the township was given a parcel at Market Street and Stadium Drive on which construction of a fire station is to get underway in the spring to replace the station on U.S. Route 224.

In addition, efforts are to be made to improve and upgrade the more than 40 security cameras at Boardman High School, especially those in the cafeteria and library. That project also will give the high school’s outside cameras night-vision capabilities, Zocolo noted, adding that a long-term goal is to install in all seven district schools newer technology for base units that receive information from the cameras.

Also, the district intends to replace 10 aging and possibly unsafe cafeteria tables, five each in Robinwood Lane and West Boulevard elementary schools, he continued.

The next regular meeting is set for 6:30 p.m. Jan. 23 at Boardman Center Intermediate School.