Going to school means more than new pens and pencils this year for students at Pflugerville, Round Rock and Hutto ISDs.
All three districts invested in new technologies, but PfISD was especially busy using $20 million in 2014 bond money to upgrade classrooms, improve campus network hardware and wireless Internet capabilities, and replace projectors and computers throughout the district.
Wireless connectivity proved to be perhaps the most essential need, said PfISD Executive Director of Technology Victor Valdez.
“We knew there was no way we could deploy 8,000 devices across the district and not have any wireless, that would just be bad,” Valdez said.
The $6.2 million wireless project consisted of wireless and network upgrades including equipment and cabling. The district was reimbursed $2.4 million of that expense as part of a federal E-rate reimbursement.
“That was a huge win for the taxpayers of Pflugerville, because we did all of that work, which was phenomenal,” Valdez said.
Network upgrades were also completed through a contract with Dell Inc. Servers were upgraded with more advanced and efficient systems, allowing students, teachers and administrators the chance to work more securely and efficiently on a system that can accommodate the anticipated increase in usage. The upgrades will also be able to support multimedia projects, which can tax a server system. Improvements should reduce the school district’s power usage by 33 percent compared with the previous system, according to a statement from Dell.
With the wireless network improved, the district was able to distribute 8,000 wireless devices to district students. Tablets were given to students in kindergarten and first grade, and second- through 12th-graders received laptops, allowing for interactive and cutting-edge learning in the classroom, he said.
The iPads allow for more interactive learning opportunities, Valdez said, but they also enable easier access to supplemental learning materials that accompany textbooks. In some cases, textbooks are distributed in electronic form and accessed through the assigned electronic devices. Laptops and iPads are also used in special education classes to assist in specialized learning curriculum as well as State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness testing preparation and administration.
PfISD high school classrooms also have been retrofitted with new interactive projectors. The project cost $1.7 million and will replace some 400 projectors throughout the district’s high schools.
The projector replacement project also included classroom audio enhancements and modern wall-mounted projector controls, Valdez said.
HISD, RRISD improvements
Hutto ISD spent $500,000 upgrading fiber optic networks and replacing aging and failing equipment, HISD Director of Technology Travis Brown said. Howard Norman, Nadine Johnson and Farley Middle Schools received new fiber optic cabling, but most of the district’s technology budget was set aside to replace old computers and laptops. Brown said all campuses will receive Chromebooks.
RRISD added 1,968 laptops and Chromebooks to its district technology programs, which were funded using money from a 2014 technology bond package.
