As leaders from Sampson County Schools make plans for improvements for buildings throughout the district, board members would also like to see computer upgrades.
The matter was discussed during a Tuesday work session when the 2019-2020 capital outlay budget was presented by Mark Hammond, executive director of auxiliary services for the district. It features more than $2.41 million for the listed projects. Some of them include playground needs, vehicle maintenance and roof repairs. Board chairman Tim Register and vice-chair Kim Schmidlin spoke about the needs with district officials.
“I think the concern is that obviously we have a great need for technology hardware,” Register said. “Just like we have been budgeting for these other contingencies, at some point that got to become a line item too. You can’t wait until all of the tires are all gone and not have any money to replace them.”
While looking at the budget, the board discussed mobile units, to come in compliance with House Bill 13 a requirement to have a set number of students in K-3 classrooms. A total of $184,000 in new funds and carryover is listed on the capital outlay budget.
Dr. Eric Bracy, superintendent of Sampson County Schools, said the funds will be set aside for future needs. An approved transfer of third-graders going from Union Elementary to Union Intermediate alleviated some of the concerns.
“We feel that we’re in a good place right now with all of our campuses,” Bracy said. “At this time, we don’t anticipate needing to add any more mobile units.”
Hammond said the district may need to add about two or three in a couple of years for compliance with the bill. Bracy said one of the issues that put the district in uncertainty is enrollment numbers. Register questioned whether funds for the mobile units could be used for technology instead, but Bracy was concerned about the possibility of enrollment numbers increasing and not having a contingency plan established.
The total of one mobile unit is $60,000, but the overall total is $92,000 and includes needs such as ramps, handicapped access, electrical and heating.
Schmidlin also questioned if contingency funds from heating, venting, air conditioning (HVAC) or wastewater treatments may be used for computer hardware instead.
“The hesitation with touching contingencies is that you don’t know what’s going to break tomorrow or the next day,” Bracy said about Hammonds having to pull from the funds in the past.
She was concern about Windows 7 devices going out of service in 2020 because of outdated technology. Belva Lovitt, the district’s director of technology, and school officials are working to replace devices to address concerns involving tech support elapsing in January 2020, as well as speed, security and management issues.
In the spring, Lovitt reported that the total amount of computers in the district on the network was more than 12,000. When it comes to the age of computers, more than 6,600 were less than 5 years old and 3,724 are 6 to 8 years old.
In the future, Register pushed for having a line item for future hardware purchases. Lovitt added that manpower will also need to be available to provide maintenance for the devices. Bracy said the district will work to find ways to replace computer needs and address other matters outside of technology.
The board will make a decision on the capital outlay budget for the 2019-2020 school year during a meeting scheduled for 7 p.m. Monday, July 22, at the district auditorium, 437 Rowan Road, Clinton.
