Downers Grove high schools are going wireless.
Under a plan district officials say they intend to move forward with, both Downers Grove North and South High Schools will have their computer networks upgraded in a major way – including the addition of schoolwide wireless Internet.
According to the district, the current network hardware is more than a decade old, and in need of replacement. While replacing the hardware, district administrators say they want to take the inevitable leap forward.
“The age of digital textbooks and instantaneous access to vast arrays of information is upon us,” Rod Russeau, District 99’s director of technology, wrote in a memo. “Our students grew up with technology; they expect it, embrace it and are very comfortable with its use.”
The school district did not take a vote on the measure, but will at a later date once it’s time to pay the bills for the installation of $905,000 network.
Still, administrators sought – and received – a tentative nod from the school board to proceed, though the seven-person body will have three new members seated early next month, following the April 5 election.
Current board member Bill White, who served as campaign treasurer for incoming board members Mike Davenport and Keith Matune, said while district officials were in a hurry to get tentative approval for the wireless network, this was due to a timeline. He said they want to get all the work finished this summer when teachers and students will be largely absent from the schools.
However, it will be a while before students can access the web from a laptop in the classroom.
After the installation, a few select teachers will test the new network through December of this year, after which more and more will be given access. Eventually students will be able to log on, likely sometime in 2012 or 2013.
The increased connectivity will come with some additional expenses, including tech support, purchasing mobile computers for teachers and perhaps some students, as well as the potential need to expand both schools’ bandwidth in the future. Add on top of that the limited lifetime of any tech gadget and the district is likely facing a whole new category of educational spending.
But despite the additional costs, school board members were in agreement that mobile technology, like in every day life, will increasingly integrate into the classroom. As a result they agreed the board will need to factor wireless expenses into future school budgets.
District Controller Mark Staehlin said there was some money in the budget. Payments owed to the district by the state government could also be a source. And if that doesn’t work out he said the district could reluctantly dip into money collected in the land dispute with Woodridge.
“We’re going out on a limb and saying we should do this now,” he said. We’ve always had to make these decisions whether to push on the button or pull back.”
According to a memo, Hinsdale High School District 86, West Chicago High School District 94, Glenbard High School District 87 and Lake Park High School District 108 already have it.
