The district's 2023 bond package allotted $69.6 million for the replacement of aging instructional technology and the board approved the device refresh Dec. 11. However, it didn’t include deployment assistance services which led to the staffing needs request, according to district documents.
The backstory
Current teacher laptops are over five years old and essential security updates are expected to expire this summer. After a competitive procurement process the district recommended purchasing newly released laptops from Apple Inc. at an estimated $7.5 million. The district expects these devices to have the longest lifespan of the comparable devices available, according to documents.
The details
To facilitate the laptop disbursement, the district’s technology department anticipated the need for up to 18 temporary technicians for a five‐week period. It would also need to hire one LISD full‐time employee position to implement and manage the new enterprise resource planning software system for the 2023 bond term.
The district estimated the staffing cost for the project at $145,000 for technician services and $445,000 for the full‐time employee. The district reached out to 1,715 firms for supplemental technology‐related services and received six responses, according to district documents.
Next steps
The technology department anticipates needing similar supplemental services for large iPad replacement projects included in the 2023 bond and district administration may bring a separate recommendation before the board at a later time.
