Kankakee Times

Manteno Community Unit School District 5 Board of Education Technology Committee met May 10.

Here is the minutes provided by the Board:

In attendance: Cara Baldwin, Kristi VanZeyl, Chris Bohula, Jake Emerson, Lindsay Fetherling, Rebecca Ganger, Brent Zhorne, Gale Dodge, Cathy Creek, Roger Schnitzler, Dave Conrad, Matthew Glenn, Stephanie Kaack, Dan Christ, Tom Steele Meeting was called to order at 3:30 pm

1) Tech Dept updates

a. All E-rate applications have been filed. We are waiting to hear from USAC on them. According to the FCC, USAC is to let us know by September 1, but there are still people waiting from last year so it is not likely they will meet this deadline.

b. Chromebook check-in procedures have been developed for the ES and MS

c. Tech Intern – Due to the schedule change and lack of help tickets this year we have decided to only bring on one tech intern for next year. If this proves to be insufficient, we will consider adding another 2nd semester. We had 4 of the strongest candidates ever apply so the decision was extremely difficult. After interviewing and testing each of the candidates we have selected Lucas Beasley to be the Tech Intern for next year.

2) Year-end Procedures

a. Revised and simplified year end procedures for staff have been developed and will be shared with staff

b. We will Not re-image staff computers

c. Staff are encouraged to include a diagram of how they would like the room setup to be next year

3) Visitor Management System

a. Replacing Raptor after numerous problems all year

b. Committee consisting of tech staff, secretaries and administrators was formed to look at possible replacements

c. Looked at 3 different systems

d. Committee recommends School Gate Guardian

e. Self-Service – visitors sign in to kiosk, scans license and prints badge. No secretary involvement unless there’s a problem

f. Keytags for “frequent flyers” such as volunteers or vendors

g. Works with student ID’s to sign in or out

h. Child pickup option allows parents to say when they will be picking up their child and notification is sent to secretary 10 minutes prior to have student ready

i. All one database (currently Raptor is a separate database for each building)

j. Cost is $1795/school one-time, then $465/school/year

k. Brent Zhorne made a motion to recommend the Board accept the proposal from School Gate Guardian. Rebecca Ganger seconded. Motion carried.

4) Summer Projects

a. Migrate to Gmail

b. Configure and distribute new Chromebooks

c. Clean all exterior cameras that are within reach

d. Clean all workstations and projectors

e. Wipe and re-enroll all Chromebooks

f. Build 6 Chromebook carts at HS out of re-purposed Dell Chromebooks

i. Finance committee said the carts were a good deal, so we asked for 10 carts from District 230

g. Install fiber between ES and HS (pending USAC approval)

5) Aging Equipment/Services Discussion

a. Replacement Projectors for Promethean Boards

i. Epson Powerlite 535W is bolt-on replacement for Promethean PRM10, PRM20 and PRM30

ii. Cost is $849 per projector

iii. Question was posed about when to replace

1. Tom stated that it would only be as they were no longer serviceable

2. We would try replacing the bulb, and if that didn’t make much difference we would consider a replacement

3. There are approximately 25-30 PRM model projectors in the district.

iv. Cathy Creek asked about the cost difference between the Promethean replacement (~$550) vs. the Epson cost. Tom stated that, in his opinion, it would be worth the extra cost for a more durable and reliable projector.

6) Building updates

a. Elementary School

i. LearnPads - Since we will be retiring the LearnPads at the end of the school year, staff are asked to turn them into the ES library before leaving for the summer

b. Middle School

i. 17-18 school year - Creating STEM, “Math Engineering” lab program - hands on experiences applying mathematics for grades 6-8

ii. Lego Robotics has an app for the Chromebook now that may be a great tool for the STEM class next year

c. High School

i. A few teachers still were unsure about the Gmail migration, but after Brent spoke with them, they had better understanding

ii. Roger would like a Chromebook or some sort of device to display announcements during lunch periods

1. Tom suggested a Chromestick

iii. Roger would like to get a Chromebook for the library for presentations. He and Tom will discuss options.

7) Adjournment

a. Brent Zhorne made a motion to adjourn. Rebecca Ganger seconded. Motion carried.

b. Meeting was adjourned at 4:10 pm

http://images.pcmac.org/Uploads/MantenoCUSD/MantenoCUSD/Departments/MeetingSchedule/20170510_Minutes.pdf