BENTON, Ind. — The cost for an initial proposal for student management technology was cut in half by Fairfield school board members Thursday night.

Board members opted to bypass a virtualized redundant server and storage Thursday evening. That move cut the cost from $103,177 to $55,641.

Following the discontinuation of the current computer student information/management system SASI, administrators and a “core evaluation” team chose PowerSchool as a replacement.

According to Technology Coordinator Steven Lesniak, the improvement, which includes software, hardware and extended warranty, will provide teachers, administrators and parents with an increasingly user-friendly experience.

“Some of the benefits are that it’s more intuitive, a broad feature set and an excellent parent portal,” Superintendent Tom Tumey explained.

The additional technology Lesniak recommended was to provide an improved level of continuity and offer a more immediate level of backup service should the corporation have unexpected system failure.

“Without the redundancy, if something happens to this building, it’s all gone,” Lesniak said.

He explained that should the school sustain a failure, substantial expense would be incurred to replace the lost equipment and restore the system using the current backup procedure. The redundant virtual server would provide a running, up-to-date version of the program immediately accessible to the corporation.

“What is the redundancy function? Is it a smart investment now,” board vice president Dave Thwaits asked.

“If this was a business, I could put a dollar figure on it, but I can’t,” Lesniak said.

Lesniak added that omitting the redundancy feature would not impact the way the program was implemented moving forward and that the board could add the technology in the future if warranted.

“The reluctance is that it’s a $50,000 expense. I think it serves us well to be a little more conservative right now,” board member Brent Welty said.

Board member Trent Hostetler agreed, “The system will be functional the way it is, and it’s a lot better than what we have now.”

Tumey added that a core team, including teachers, administrators and non-certified staff, evaluated the program and gave positive feedback.

“We still anticipate bumps in the road, the change alone causes bumps,” Tumey said.

After approving the student management system, the board reviewed levels of similarly sized schools’ technology staffing to see how Fairfield measured up. It was determined that in nearly all levels, Fairfield fell short.

“In the nine years that I’ve been here, the amount of technology in schools has grown tremendously,” Tumey said. “The responsibility for state and federal reports has grown and our support of technicians has grown thin.”

The board discussed creating a technician position to support the four paraprofessionals and Lesniak, allowing Lesniak to move away from routine maintenance and troubleshooting common issues which would allow him to focus more on staff support and education implementation.

“Part of my job is supposed to be staff development, helping teachers use technology. It doesn’t happen,” Lesniak said.

“This position is not a result of the new student management system, it’s an overall need,” Tumey said.

He added that in the very near future he expects that Indiana Statewide Testing for Educational Progress testing, graduation qualifying exams and many more evaluations to be done online.

“There will be more demand, not less,” Tumey said.

A staffed position to support the technology department would be paid from the capital projects fund, separate from the general fund which pays teacher payroll.

Marilee Keim, instructor and president of Fairfield Educators Association, was not pleased with the board’s consideration of adding more non-instructional staff.

“I’m in no position to question technical needs, but I want to remind you that we still haven’t filled all the RIF (reduction in force) positions. I don’t care what fund it comes from,” Keim said.

She said that additional technical instruction could be very helpful to staff members but she wasn’t sure how it would directly help students.

Keim’s plea was heard by board member Brent Welty.

“We need as a board to keep in mind that there are other issues our staff think we need to address. They’re still hurting and I’m not sure we hear enough of that,” Welty said.

Board president Wayne Miller asked Tumey to bring a plan and more information about a potential technician position to the next board meeting.

School calendar

An adjustment to the 2009 school calendar was approved, moving two days from the end of the second semester to the beginning after concerns were noted regarding the Christmas holiday.

The new calendar reflects a full two-week break, beginning Dec. 17, 2009. Teachers will report to school Aug. 13, with students arriving Aug. 14. The last day of school will be May 27, with May 28 reserved as a snow make-up day.