Kennett technology director unveils five‑year capital plan, highlights device sustainability and home connectivity gains

Kennett Consolidated SD’s director of technology presented a detailed five‑year capital plan and district technology initiatives on March 4, 2024, outlining refresh cycles for infrastructure and devices, staffing realignment, and programs to improve home internet access and assessment reliability.

Director McGuire walked the committee through the capital schedule, including next‑year allocations such as about $156,000 for an annual server refresh and CRV cooling replacement in the data center, recurring annual refresh amounts for servers and phones, and a planned cadence for student and staff device replacement. He said the district is standardizing Chromebooks and plans to refresh roughly 1,000 student devices every four years by replacing cohorts in grades 1, 5 and 9 and maintaining a pool of assessment devices for testing windows.

McGuire highlighted federal and grant funding used to reach this point: since 2008 the district has taken advantage of over $1.5 million in E‑Rate funding and has used ESSER and the Emergency Connectivity Fund to support device and connectivity work. He credited a dedicated staff member (Julia) and Comcast Internet Essentials partnership for connecting families; since July 1, 2023 the district has helped about 135 families connect to high‑speed internet with fewer than 20 families still in process.

The technology team also described assessment‑period preparations — dedicated assessment 'cards', IU support (Julie Ortiz), and a low‑incident year for online PSATs and Keystones — and introduced Lightspeed Digital Insight, which will generate utilization and compliance reports (COPPA/FERPA) to help the district measure app use and return on investment for purchased digital programs.

On staffing, McGuire proposed reorganizing job titles to align responsibilities and noted the need to retain and expand staff to sustain service levels; he flagged that safety and security technology costs have added about $110,000 in recent encumbrances. The presentation concluded with staff plans to refine a district technology survey and pursue targeted professional development tied to the district’s balance scorecard.

Next steps: the committee acknowledged the plan and McGuire will continue work to refine the capital schedule, finalize a reorganization proposal with HR and present budget implications during April budget discussions.