District previews in‑house IT projects — 'Bear Pause' ticketing, monitoring and asset security with projected savings

IT staff told the board the district has begun several in‑house technology projects intended to reduce annual vendor costs and improve operations.

The first project, an in‑house IT ticketing tool the presenter identified as “Bear Pause,” is already built and will go live next week; the district estimated it will save $3,825 annually compared with the external ticketing service. The same presenter said a replacement for the current server‑status monitoring service could save about $7,200 per year, and an asset‑security vulnerability reporting system under development could save roughly $24,000 per year when fully implemented.

On the student‑tracking side, the presenter previewed an electronic hall‑pass application that runs on student Chromebooks. The system records where students sign out and triggers countdown timers and alerts for principals when a student does not appear at the destination within a configured interval; the presenter said principals will have consoles to view flags and that restricted lists can prevent certain students from obtaining passes when needed.

The IT presenter summarized expected savings: “That solution, if we're able to implement that the way we believe we're going to, is going to save us over $24,000 a year,” referencing the asset‑security tool, and described Bear Pause as the district's new ticketing platform.

The board asked operational questions about alarms and student location verification; staff said cameras can be consulted but fully automated swipes at multiple locations would be costly. Implementation timelines were presented as near‑term for Bear Pause, with other systems still under development.