District staff proposes scale computing server environment to support security systems; board to act Feb. 25

At the Feb. 11 meeting, district technology staff presented a proposal to consolidate multiple server purchases into a scale computing environment to support this summer’s intercom, access-control and security-camera projects.

Linda Pelser said the consolidation would remove a previously budgeted $30,000 set aside within the intercom project and would add an additional $52,000 for a scale computing environment that provides redundancy, easier maintenance and a single environment to update. Pelser described the technical design as a three-node architecture that balances load across nodes and permits one node to fail without losing critical services; the environment will be backed up off-site. She estimated typical server lifetimes of five to seven years and said the district expects to be able to maintain the investment for seven years.

Superintendent and board members asked whether the cost could be absorbed in the 2025–26 budget; administration replied affirmatively. Board members also raised questions about business-continuity testing and cadence for rollover testing; Pelser explained the resilience is provided by the multi-node configuration and that off-site backups exist.

No final vote on the purchase was recorded in open session; administration said the item will return as an action item at the Feb. 25 board meeting with additional budget paperwork and documentation.

What's next: The scale computing environment will be brought back to the Feb. 25 meeting for a vote. If approved, facilities and IT staff will finalize procurement and schedule implementation to support the security projects planned for summer 2026.