Utica board hears Smart Schools Phase 3 plan to spend remaining bond funds on security upgrades

The Utica City School District board was presented with a Phase 3 spending plan for remaining Smart Schools Bond Act funds that would prioritize security upgrades, including IP‑based integrated public‑address and visual lockdown displays, and continue a five‑year replacement schedule for classroom devices.

The interim superintendent and district presenters told the board that the district originally received a Smart Schools allocation in 2014 and has used about $6 million of the roughly $9 million available; they said the remaining funds would be directed toward security needs and that roughly $2 million in E‑rate federal dollars would supplement future expenditures. "The goal, we want to provide reliable, seamless, and robust technology in a multifaceted way," the presenter said.

Board members asked whether devices such as Chromebooks and interactive whiteboards are capital items and how procurement and SED (State Education Department) approval would proceed. Presenters said Smart Schools expenditures must be administered like capital projects, including planning, LOIs, bidding and SED review, and that the district already has a five‑year replacement plan for classroom technology.

On security, presenters described IP‑based PA and display systems that can prompt a lockdown visually on classroom screens, call lockdown remotely, and provide other emergency and drill functions. "It's a visual screen with audio... it'll prompt a lockdown across the display in the classroom," a presenter explained.

The administration said the proposal would be posted publicly and that SED approval will be required because this is a capital project; if the board votes to proceed, the district would post plans online and follow phased procurement and bidding over the coming year and a half.

No formal vote on the Phase 3 spending plan was recorded at this meeting; presenters sought board approval to post the proposed plan and to proceed with required SED filings and procurement steps.