From the Director - David Fernandez

Another school year is coming to a close.  For the Technology Department this only means that our summer projects are beginning.  I would like to share two of these projects. 

Software Committee
The current approved Software Specifications list was developed in 1997.  The list can be found here on the District’s web site .  As many of you have noticed, much of the approved software is outdated.  The current list has three categories.  Category 1 (Core Software) lists all software that is District approved and supported.  This would include, but not limited to, operating systems, Office, anti-virus, and e-mail.  The Category 2 list is any software that is not part of Core, but is needed by District personnel to fulfill their job responsibilities.  This software has limited support from the Technology Department.  Finally, the Category 3 list is any software that is not supported by the District and cannot be installed.  Typically, Category 3 software causes computers to malfunction such as screen savers. 

As was mentioned in the previous section, the Software Specifications sheet is outdated and in need of revision.  To accomplish this, a software committee has been created to review the District’s software needs and set up new standards.  The committee has representation from administrators, teachers, and Technology Department personnel. 

The Software Committee first met on March 30, 2007, to define the scope of this project and establish a time frame.  It was determined that the committee needed to address four areas:  Category Software, Hardware & Networking, Licensing, Copyright & Tracking, and Processes (streamlining). 

Within Category Software, the committee will investigate such items as podcasting, blogging, and Open Source software.  Hardware & Networking will cover our current hardware standards.  The biggest issue under Licensing, Copyright & Tracking is to keep an updated inventory of all software in the District.  Finally, the Process category will look into such items as an “oversight committee” to continually monitor changes in Category 1 software and professional development for new software.   

The committee has scheduled a second meeting in May and an all-day meeting will be scheduled for sometime in July.  If necessary, additional meetings will be scheduled once the new school year begins to finish this project.  I will share the outcome in a future Tech Talk article. 

New Wide-Area-Network (WAN)
The District’s current wide-area-network has been around for many years.  Little has changed since its inception.  T-1 lines connect all the sites to the Wetmore offices.  T-1 lines have a maximum bandwidth capacity of 1.5Mbps.  The high schools and Wilson K-8 have two T-1 lines.  One line is dedicated strictly to data transmissions and the secondary line is assigned to voice.  The remaining sites have only one T-1.  The single line is shared equally between voice and data.  Over the years, the bandwidth to the sites has not changed, but the needs of the schools have increased.  This school year, the Technology Department solicited proposals from vendors to upgrade the WAN infrastructure. 

On February 6, 2007, Conterra Broadband was awarded a bid to install a new wide-area-network.  In the next few months, Conterra will install a wireless network to connect District sites.  The network will be capable of running voice, video and data traffic.  The high schools, K-8 schools, and middle schools will receive a 100Mbps link.  The alternative schools, elementary schools and support sites will have a 20Mbps link.  Additionally, the District’s Internet connection will be increased from its current 10Mbps to 20Mbps. 

The implementation process has already begun.  On March 19th, the Technology Department met with Conterra Broadband for a “kick off” meeting.  A tentative timeline was established and the project managers for both parties were identified.  Tom Gill, Telecommunications Manager, will lead the District.  Tom, along with the Conterra engineers, have surveyed many of the District’s sites to find any “line of site” issues that would affect a wireless system.  Currently, Conterra is finalizing their network design before another meeting is scheduled to review their results.  We are hopeful that new network will be completed by next October. 

Please see Will McCullen’s article in this issue of Tech Talk for more details on our new wireless network. 

Have a great summer and see you in August.