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Overhaul of computers could cost BOE millions

By J. FRANK LYNCH
jflynch@theCitizenNews.com

Thanks to a generous business community and supportive parents, Fayette County classrooms have no shortage of computers.

An inventory completed this fall counted 6,661 individual work stations and 157 servers in use throughout the county, or about one PC for every four students and teachers combined, administrators say.

But the good intentions of many often translate into headaches for the school system’s technology employees, who manage and maintain an ill-tempered network linking machines of every make and model, many overdue for replacement.

The inconsistent technology is more than just a nuisance.

“It’s beginning to affect our level of instruction,” Technology Director John Lhota told the Board of Education earlier this month. “We’ve got students working in labs on brand new computers and others working on computers that are over Þve years old.”

Lhota offered several options, but said the solution lies in adopting a policy of replacing every computer in the district every five years. Doing that will require doubling or tripling the number of new machines bought annually now, at a cost of several million dollars.

For example, this year’s budget includes nearly $1 million for the purchase of just 500 replacements, Lhota said. And until recently, there was no program in place to retire old computers when new ones were added.

The school board has an exclusive contract with Gateway to provide new equipment, Lhota said, which in time will make the network uniform.

Board members said they’ll consider additional funding, but want assurances that so many computers are worth replacing and a standard is in place.

“Certainly we’d want to make instructional uses the top priority, but how we go about doing that I don’t know,” said Board Chairman Terri Smith. “The principals, teachers and secretaries are the ones who really need the upgrades.”

Board Member Janet Smola asked how many of the 6,700 computers the school system owns are actually being used.

“We want to be replacing the need, not the ones that are sitting there collecting dust,” Smola said.

Lhota said a policy adopted last year against accepting such “gift” computers without prior approval of the technology staff seems to be working out so far. “It has really eliminated the junk donations,” he said, adding that if a policy was ever in place to address the concern, he didn’t know about it.

“I don’t think a standard was ever set before,” said Smola. “You’ve got PTOs and boosters buying computers and just hooking them up.”

Smola also asked if leasing computers was an option, but Lhota said that wasn’t a good investment in the long run and the terms of a lease are often tricky to negotiate.

Unfortunately, retired computers have little value either, Lhota said. The school system can’t give them away because they are considered taxpayer property. And because computers contain low levels of radiation, they are considered hazardous and must be turned over to the state for disposal, Lhota said.

“So we can give them to the state to trash, but can’t give them away to students?” Smola exclaimed.

Board Member Lee Wright agreed that something needed to be done. “We’re doing a disservice to our schoolchildren if we don’t give them the technology they need.”

Lhota said he intentionally brought the computer concerns to the board’s attention prior to the start of budget planning early next year.

“I came here to get guidance, and now we can start planning to do this,” he said.