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IF WE COULD STAND FOR THE PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE, FOR WHICH IT STANDS ONE NATION INDIVISIBLE WITH LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL.
UM, UH, GETTING AN APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA.
AND DISCUSSION ALL THOSE IN FAVOR.
MOLLY, DO WE HAVE ANY PUBLIC COMMENTS? NO.
NEXT IS THE APPROVAL OF THE AUGUST 11TH MINUTES.
I MOVE, WE APPROVE THE MINUTES FOR THE OBVIOUS I SECOND THE MOTION.
IT WAS KIND OF FUNNY TO SEE THE INNER WORKINGS OF DOCS HERE.
NOW WE GET TO THE MEAT OF THE MEETING, UM, WHICH IS ALWAYS 17.4 MONITOR EQUITY OF TECHNOLOGY IN ALL SCHOOLS.
UM, WE HAVE SOME DOCUMENTS, BUT I'M SURE YOU'RE GOING TO SHARE THEM ON YOUR SCREEN, MOLLY.
WHICH ONE TO PULL UP FIRST? UM, WE COULD EITHER START WITH THE ORGANIZATIONAL CHART AND SEE HOW THE DEPARTMENT STRUCTURE, OR WE COULD MOVE RIGHT INTO ONE 17.4.
SO BASICALLY THIS GIVES YOU THE BASE LAYOUT FOR OUR DEPARTMENT.
UM, MOVING DOWN THROUGH PETER SCAG, LEON, WHO'S OUR MAIN IT PROJECT MANAGER FOR THE DEPARTMENT.
UM, CHARLOTTE WAS WITH LOTS OF WITS.
UM, BECAUSE SHE'S OUR TECH SPECIALISTS, UM, OUR OFFICE MANAGER, SHE PRETTY MUCH DOES EVERYTHING IN THE DEPARTMENT TO KEEP US STRAIGHT NARROW.
UM, WE'RE THEN BROKEN DOWN BY THREE DIFFERENT SUBSECTIONS.
OUR SYSTEM SUPPORT THAT IS BROKEN DOWN BY, UM, OUR TWO SUPERVISORS MIGHT BREW BAKER FOR NORTH OF THE BROAD SCHOOLS AND JOE BASS FOR OUR SOUTH OF THE BROAD SCHOOLS.
AND UNDER EACH ONE OF THOSE ARE ACTUAL SCHOOL TEXTS.
UM, AT OUR SITES, WE WISH WE HAD A SCHOOL TECH FOR EVERY ONE OF OUR BUILDINGS, BUT UNFORTUNATELY WITH THE MODEL THAT THE STATE SUGGESTS IT'S ONE SCHOOL TECH FOR EVERY 1000 STUDENTS.
SO RIGHT NOW WE'RE HOVERING RIGHT AT THAT, UH, 21, UM, ACTUAL SCHOOL TEXTS.
WE'VE DECREASED THE AMOUNT OF SCHOOL TEXTS TO ADD AUDIO AND VISUAL SUPPORT BECAUSE WE DO SO MUCH WITH INTERACTIVE BOARDS, PROJECTORS AND THE PACKS, AND SO MANY SIDE PROJECTS WITH AUDIO, VISUAL ACTIVITIES AND TELEVISION PRODUCTIONS WITH SOME OF THE GREEN ROOMS AND NEWS PROGRAMS THAT OUR SCHOOL OFFERS.
WE CREATED A POSITION TO SUPPORT THAT INFRASTRUCTURE.
UM, OUR, UH, WHITEBOARD INFRASTRUCTURE IS PRETTY MUCH A COMPLETE SYSTEM IN ITSELF.
WE HAVE A WHITEBOARD IN EVERY ONE OF OUR CLASSROOMS, WHICH IS ABOUT 1,740 PLUS WE HAVE THEM IN OTHER, UH, ANCILLARY ROOMS THAT ARE USED BY OUR TEACHING STAFF COULD BE ANYTHING FROM A WEIGHT ROOM TO A HEALTH ROOM, TO ANY OF THOSE SIDE BREAKOUT ROOMS. UM, SURE.
GOING BACK TO THE SOUTH AND NORTH OF THE BROAD, YOU'VE GOT 11 NORTH TECH AND 10 SOUTH, BUT THE DISTRIBUTION OF STUDENTS IS ROUGHLY 7,000 TO 14,000.
SO DOES THAT INCLUDE DISTRICT TECH OR HOW DOES THAT, UM, THOSE ARE JUST SCHOOL-BASED
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TECHNICIANS.WE HAVE TECHNICALLY MORE SCHOOLS NORTH OF THE BROAD, BUT THEY DO HAVE A SMALLER STUDENT RATIO.
CAUSE WHAT YOU SAID WAS THE STATE REQUIRES ONE PER 1000 STUDENTS.
SO IT SEEMS LIKE SOUTH ABROAD HAS SUBSTANTIAL.
UH, UNDER-REPRESENTATION PERSONALLY, UM, THAT'S PRETTY MUCH AS A DISTRICT, AS A WHOLE IS THE NUMBER THEY TRY TO LOOK AT.
AND WE DO HAVE A LITTLE UNDER THAT SINCE WE HAVE 21 INSTEAD OF 22 TO MEET OUR 22,000 STUDENT COUNT.
AND WE'RE AUGMENTING THAT WITH OUR AUDIO VISUAL SUPPORT PERSON, UM, BECAUSE THAT PERSON SUPPORTS THE WHOLE DISTRICT FOR OUR INTERACTIVE WHITEBOARDS AND VIDEO PRODUCTION.
UM, RIGHT NOW WE PRETTY MUCH TRY TO KEEP A FULL-TIME SUPPORT AT OUR BIGGEST LOCATION.
SO ALL HIGH SCHOOLS WILL HAVE A DEDICATED SUPPORT TECHNICIAN AT THE LOCATION.
UM, ALL MIDDLE SCHOOLS WILL HAVE A DEDICATED SUPPORT TECHNICIAN.
THE PROBLEM WE HAVE IS WITH OUR ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS, WE HAVE A LOT OF ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS AND WE HAVE A LOT OF ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS THAT HAVE THREE, 400 KIDS.
UM, SO BASICALLY OUR TECHNICIANS THAT SUPPORT OUR ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS MAY HAVE TWO TO THREE ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS THAT THEY WILL SUPPORT DURING THE WEEK, DEPENDING ON STUDENT COUNTS.
WE GENERALLY TRY NOT TO GO OVER 1500 STUDENTS RIGHT NOW WITH ONE TECHNICIAN.
AND, UH, FOR A GOOD EXAMPLE OF THAT, WE WOULD LOOK AT SCA AND IBE ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS ON HILTON HEAD ISLAND, UH, WOULD BOTH SCHOOLS COMBINED THEY'RE ROUGHLY AT ABOUT 1400 KIDS AND WE HAVE ONE TECHNICIAN ONSITE AT THAT SCHOOL TO SUPPORT BOTH OF THOSE FACILITIES.
UM, ANOTHER REASON WHY WE'VE SHIFTED SOME AWAY FROM ACTUAL IN-SCHOOL SUPPORT AND WE'VE ADDED MORE TECHNICIANS IN OUR KNOCK IS BECAUSE TECHNOLOGY IS CHANGING.
WE'RE MOVING AWAY FROM OUR SCHOOL-BASED SITES WHERE THE SCHOOL WOULD HAVE A SERVER AND EACH SCHOOL WOULD BE ITS OWN LITTLE ENTITY.
WE'RE GROWING MORE INTO THE ENTERPRISE WHERE OUR MAIN FUNCTIONS ARE DISTRIBUTED DOWN FROM THE DISTRICT OFFICE TO SUPPORT OUR STUDENTS AND STAFF.
UM, THE SECOND COLUMN WOULD BE R UH, WOULD BE UNDER ROB KHAN FARE OR NETWORK OPERATIONS DIRECTOR.
THESE ARE MAINLY OUR HIGHER LEVEL ENGINEERS FOR OUR NETWORK AND SYSTEMS, UM, AND THE MAIN PEOPLE THAT CONTROL ALL OF THE SUBSYSTEMS AND DIFFERENT, UM, UH, APPLICATIONS AND NETWORK APPLIANCES HERE AT THE DISTRICT OFFICE.
UM, THIS DEPARTMENT HAS GROWN THE MOST OVER THE LAST SIX YEARS, ESPECIALLY WITH THE EMPHASIS BEING ON CYBER SECURITY.
WE WERE ABLE TO BRING ON ALEX, THE BANCO AS A SYSTEMS ENGINEER, AND HE'S ALSO OUR SECURITY SPECIALIST, UM, WORKING WITH EMAIL SPAM PROTECTION, UM, AND ANTIVIRUS AND OUR CONTENT FILTERING.
YOU'LL HEAR US TALK A LOT ABOUT OUR CONTENT FILTERING.
UM, IT'S SOMETHING WE PUT A LOT OF FOCUS ON, UM, WITHOUT A GOOD CONTENT FILTER IN PLACE.
WE DON'T GET TO APPLY AND GET REIMBURSED FOR A LOT OF OUR EARACHE FUNDS.
SO WE ALWAYS MAKE SURE WE HAVE OUR, UM, PRE-QUALIFICATIONS IN PLACE THAT WE CAN GET OUR, UH, FEDERAL AND STATE MONIES EVERY YEAR.
UM, OUR LAST SUBSECTION OF OUR ORG CHART WOULD BE OUR SERVICE AND HELP DESK THAT IS BROKEN UP INTO THREE INDIVIDUALS.
WE HAVE DONEEN DAY SHE'S OUR TELECOM SPECIALIST.
HER MAIN FUNCTION IS OUR AVAYA TELEPHONE SYSTEM.
AND WE'LL TALK ABOUT THAT A LITTLE BIT MORE IN, UM, SOME OF OUR SLIDES AND MONITORING EQUITY, AND I'LL DIVE A LITTLE DEEPER INTO THAT.
UM, THE OTHER PART IS OUR TWO HELP DESK PERSONNEL, WHICH ARE TINA PURVIS AND ERIN OLIVER.
WHEN SOMEBODY DIALS THREE, TWO TO HELP IN ANY OF OUR PHONES, THEY WILL GENERALLY GET ONE OF THESE TWO INDIVIDUALS TO GIVE A IMMEDIATE SUPPORT.
OUR MAIN FOCUS FOR TECHNOLOGY SUPPORT IS THAT WE ASK OUR PERSONNEL TO ENTER A WEB HELP DESK TICKET.
WE DO THAT FOR MULTIPLE REASONS.
THE MAIN REASON WE DO IS TO HAVE A TRACKING MECHANISM WHEN YOU INITIATE A WEB HELP DESK TICKET, DEPENDING ON THE SEVERITY OF IT.
SO SAY YOU'RE A TEACHER AND YOU'RE HAVING A PROBLEM WITH A SINGLE APPLICATION.
YOU WOULD BASICALLY HAVE A TWO DAY TURNAROUND
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TIME ON THAT TICKET.IF THAT TECHNICIAN DID NOT MAKE CONTACT WITH THAT TEACHER TO RESOLVE THAT ISSUE WITHIN TWO DAYS, THAT TICKET THEN GETS MOVED UP TO THAT.
PERSON'S IMMEDIATE SUPERVISOR, THAT IMMEDIATE SUPERVISOR THEN HAS TWO DAYS TO RECTIFY IT BEFORE IT COMES HERE TO THE DISTRICT OFFICE FOR US TO FIND OUT WHERE THE BREAKDOWN IN THE SYSTEM WAS.
ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF THAT WOULD BE, UM, SAY THAT THEIR WIRELESS WENT DOWN IN THE WHOLE WING OF A SCHOOL THAT WOULD BE A TWO HOUR TICKET.
SO WITHIN TWO HOURS, WE WOULD NEED TO HAVE ONE OF OUR SYSTEMS ENGINEERS OUT THERE DETERMINING WHAT HAPPENED TO GET THAT WING OF THE SCHOOL BACK UP AND FUNCTIONING.
SO THOSE ARE THE MAIN REASONS WE USE WEB HELP DESK.
ANOTHER WAY WE USE IT IS TO TRACK CUSTOMER SATISFACTION.
AT THE END OF EVERY SUPPORT TICKET, WE DO PROVIDE THAT USER WITH A SURVEY AND ASK THEM TO FILL IT OUT, TO FIND OUT THE TIME LIMIT TIMELINESS OF THE RESOLUTION.
UM, WAS THE TECHNICIAN HELPFUL.
UM, AND BASICALLY DID, DID YOUR PROBLEM GET RESOLVED IN A MANNER YOU THOUGHT WAS ADEQUATE? UH, WE DO REVIEW THOSE, UM, HELP DESK TICKETS WITH OUR STAFF, UM, TO HELP MAINTAIN A BETTER LEVEL OF TECHNOLOGY SUPPORT THROUGHOUT THE DISTRICT.
SO, UM, THE NEXT, UM, THE NEXT DOCUMENT WOULD BE THE JOB DUTIES FOR OUR NOC DEPARTMENT.
UM, YOU'D HAD SOME QUESTIONS ON INDIVIDUALS, UM, IN OUR KNOCK AND SORT OF WHAT OF THEIR SYSTEM RESPONSIBILITIES WERE.
UM, OF COURSE THIS IS A, A KIND OF A SCALED DOWN MODEL.
THERE'S A BUNCH OF OTHER DUTIES AS A SIDE FOR ALL OF OUR PERSONNEL.
UM, BUT THESE ARE THE MAIN FUNCTIONS THAT EACH ONE OF THE PERSONNEL IN OUR KNOT DOES.
UM, I WAS INFORMED BY MR. DAWSON, THE COUNCIL MEMBERS THAT THE COUNTY HAS $30 MILLION TO DEAL WITH BROADBAND.
HAVE YOU BEEN IN DISCUSSION WITH THEM ABOUT THIS? UH, YES, SIR.
MR. CAMPBELL, UM, TONYA, WOULD YOU LIKE TO TAKE THAT? YES, SIR.
UM, WE WERE GONNA DISCUSS THAT IN THE FUTURE TOPICS DISCUSSION TODAY WITH YOU.
WE DID MEET YESTERDAY WITH SOME COUNTY OFFICIALS AND WOULD LIKE TO SHARE A LITTLE BIT ABOUT IT WITH YOU, BUT PUT IT ON A FUTURE AGENDA.
SO, UM, IF WE CAN, THAT'S FINE.
UM, IF Y'ALL HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ON ANY OF OUR INDIVIDUALS AND THEIR JOB RESPONSIBILITIES OR ANYTHING YOU SEE, I'D BE HAPPY TO ANSWER THOSE.
AND ONE THING WE DO TRY TO DO, EVEN THOUGH WE HAVE SOME PERSON AS AN EXPERT IN A FIELD, WE ALWAYS TRY TO HAVE SOME MUTUAL CROSS TRAINING WITH ANOTHER INDIVIDUAL, JUST FOR SIMPLE REASONS.
COVID SICKNESS, UM, VACATIONS AND ALL OF THE LITTLE THINGS THAT HAPPEN DURING THE COURSE OF THE YEAR.
I GUESS WE CAN MOVE INTO A ONE 17.4.
UH, DO YOU HAVE ANY VACANCIES RIGHT NOW? UH, YES, SIR.
UM, IF WE COULD GO BACK TO THE ORG CHART, WE DO HAVE TWO VACANCIES IN OUR NOC AND WE CURRENTLY HAVE TWO VACANCIES IN OUR SYSTEM SUPPORT STAFF, UM, OUT IN THE FIELD, BOTH OF THOSE TECHNICIANS WERE SOUTH OF THE BROAD ONE TECHNICIAN RETIRED AND THE OTHER TECHNICIAN CHOSE, UH, EMPLOYMENT WITH A DIFFERENT, UM, AND COMPANY.
I ASSUME THAT THOSE POSITIONS ARE AT BEING ADVERTISED.
THERE'S AN ACTIVE SEARCH ONGOING.
WE'RE HOPING TO, UH, INTERVIEW, UM, IN THE NEXT WEEK FOR OUR TWO SYSTEM SUPPORT ONES AT OUR SCHOOL.
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UM, THOSE ARE THE MOST CRITICAL, UM, WE'VE GOT TO HAVE THOSE, A FRONTLINE STAFF ON THE GROUND.UM, AND THEN THE OTHER TWO POSITIONS FOR OUR NOC DEPARTMENT, THEY'RE JUST AS IMPORTANT.
UM, OUR NOC IS A VERY OVERWORKED DEPARTMENT AS OUR SYSTEMS KEEP EXPANDING.
I LOOK AT JUST THE WORK WE'RE DOING WITH THE REFERENDUM DOLLARS, UM, THE INCREASE OF THE PAGING SYSTEM AND ALL OF THESE SYSTEMS MOVING FROM A LOW VOLTAGE SYSTEM TO AN IP BASED SYSTEM, WHICH PUTS IT RIGHT IN THE WHEELHOUSE OF TECHNOLOGY.
IT'S THE OTHER, UH,
SO WE'LL START WITH THE, UM, OUR BASE MISSION FOR TECHNOLOGY.
UM, WE TRY TO CREATE SUPPORT, ASSESS AND MAINTAIN AN OPTIMAL TECHNOLOGY ENVIRONMENT FOR STUDENT EDUCATION AND ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT INSIDE OF BUFORD COUNTY.
UM, I THINK THIS IS A KEY STATEMENT.
UM, AS THE TECHNOLOGY DEPARTMENT, WE ARE NOT A HUNDRED PERCENT ALIGNED ON OUR ISD SIDE.
WE LOOK MORE AT A BUSINESS CONTINUITY SIDE.
WE LOOK MORE AS THE DISTRICT, AS A WHOLE.
WE HAVE NO QUALMS ABOUT IF WE THINK THERE'S A PROBLEM AT A SINGLE SCHOOL TO CUT POWER TO IT AND TURN THE INTERNET NET OFF TO IT.
IF WE THINK THAT IT'S A DETRIMENT TO THE REST OF THE DISTRICT, UM, WE ALWAYS GO FOR THE CEASE AND DESIST FIRST.
SO WE WANT TO ISOLATE ANY ISSUE.
WE SEE INVESTIGATE IT, TROUBLESHOOT IT.
AND THEN IF WE DEEM SAFE, BRING THAT BACK INTO THE FOLD.
SO THAT'S ONE OF THE BIGGEST DIFFERENCES IS THAT WE ALWAYS TRY TO MAINTAIN CONSISTENCY IN OUR BUDGETS AND CONSISTENCY IN OUR SUPPORT THAT WE OFFER.
AND THIS, YOU KNOW, IT GOES TO THE STRATEGY STATEMENT AS WELL, BUT I THINK WHEN YOU SAID THAT, YOU KNOW, YOU'RE SEPARATE FROM ISD, UM, IN THAT YOU'RE LOOKING AT A BUSINESS CONTINUITY PLAN.
ONE THING THAT JUMPS OUT AT ME, BOTH WITH THIS MISSION AND REALLY WHAT THE STRATEGY STATEMENT, WHEN IT SAYS, UM, RESOLUTION ESCALATION OF APPROVED TECHNICAL INSTRUCTIONAL RESOURCES FOR EMPLOYEES OF THE BUFORD COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT, I DO THINK, AND MAYBE YOU CAN ADDRESS THIS.
MAYBE TECHNOLOGY'S NOT SUPPOSED TO HOUSE THIS PIECE, BUT WHERE, YOU KNOW, WHERE THE END USER, THE STUDENT LEARNING THE CAPACITY FOR ALL THIS ED TECH THAT WE'RE ADDING ON, WHO'S LOOKING TO MAKE SURE THAT THE KIDS ARE GETTING TRAINED.
YOU KNOW, THERE'S NOT MUCH ABOUT STUDENT OR EDUCATION, UM, IN EITHER THE MISSION OR THE STRATEGY STATEMENT.
THOSE ARE ONE OF THE AREAS THAT WE WORK HAND IN HAND WITH OUR ADMINISTRATIVE TEAM, OUR INSTRUCTIONAL TECHNOLOGY DEPARTMENT, WHICH IS UNDER DR.
UM, WE ARE DEFINITELY NOT EDUCATORS IN THE TECHNOLOGY DEPARTMENT.
WE LOOK FOR HELP WITH THE PEOPLE THAT ARE MORE KNOWLEDGEABLE AND WE ALWAYS, UM, WORK SIDE BY SIDE WITH THEM IN ALL THE DEPARTMENTS THROUGHOUT THE DISTRICT.
WE TRY TO BE THE FIRST ONE CALLED IN WHEN THEY'RE LOOKING AT NEW SYSTEMS. THAT WAY WE CAN GIVE THE BRIEF, GO AHEAD THAT THE SYSTEMS ARE COMPATIBLE.
THE SYSTEMS WILL MELD WELL TOGETHER.
UM, IT'S NOT GOING TO CREATE ANY SECURITY HOLES.
UM, SO BASICALLY WE ARE USUALLY ON THE VERY FRONT END OF THOSE CONVERSATIONS WHEN THEY START BRINGING IN THE SALESMEN THAT TELL YOU EVERYTHING'S GOING TO WORK AND EVERYTHING'S HUNKY DORY.
UH, WE LIKE TO CHECK AND VERIFY TO MAKE SURE IT IS BECAUSE, UH, WE'VE HEARD THOSE LINES PLENTY OF TIMES IN THE PAST.
AND JUST AS A FOLLOW-UP MR. CHAIRMAN, IF YOU DON'T MIND, THAT TO ME IS SOMETHING THAT I THINK THIS COMMUNITY IS TO LOOK AT BECAUSE YOU CAN'T HAVE ISD HAVE A SEPARATE MISSION FROM TECHNOLOGY.
WE'RE ADDING MILLIONS AND MILLIONS OF DOLLARS ED TECH.
SO TECHNOLOGY HAS GOT TO FIGURE OUT IF WE HAVE THE CAPACITY AND THE MONEY, YOU KNOW, ET CETERA, BUT TO NOT HAVE ANYTHING IN THE MISSION OF THE TECHNOLOGY DEPARTMENT THAT ADDRESSES STUDENTS, UM, I THINK IS RAISES, I DON'T KNOW A QUESTION FOR ME.
AND THEN THE NEXT QUESTION WOULD BE WHEN IT COMES TO IMPLEMENTING, LIKE WE JUST HAD WHALE BRANCH GO ALL VIRTUAL, WE ALL BRANCH MIDDLE, WHO'S MAKING SURE THE KIDS HAVE THE DEVICES, HAVE THE TRAINING, HAVE THE RIGHT SOFTWARE, HAVE THE RIGHT VERSION.
IS THAT ISD OR IS THAT TECHNOLOGY, UH, THAT WOULD BE TECHNOLOGY.
YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR GETTING THE HARDWARE OUT TO THE KIDS.
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WE'RE RESPONSIBLE FOR MAKING SURE THAT THE TECHNOLOGY WE PROVIDE HAS ACCESS TO THE RESOURCES, YOUR CLASS LINKS TO MAKE SURE YOUR SSO CONNECTS TO ALL THE DIFFERENT EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES THAT WILL BE PROVIDED FOR EITHER THAT GRADE LEVEL, THAT SCHOOL, THAT CLASS.BUT I THINK THAT SHOULD BE IN THE MISSION AND THE STRATEGY AS WELL.
I'M DONE, UM, IN THE LA THE LAST PIECE WOULD BE OUR CONNECT TO LEARN AFTER STRATEGY.
I THINK WE KIND OF COVERED STRATEGY ALONG WITH THE MISSION.
AND I THINK THIS IS WHERE WE START TO REALLY LOOK AT THE MELDING OF OUR ISD AND OUR TECHNOLOGY DEPARTMENT.
AND THIS IS ONE OF THE KEY POINTS I THINK, UM, OF WHERE WE'VE GROWN AS A DISTRICT, SINCE I'VE BEEN WITH THE DISTRICT FOR THE LAST 13 YEARS, UH, WHEN I FIRST CAME ONTO THE DISTRICT, YOU HAD ISD AND THEN YOU HAD TECHNOLOGY AND THERE WAS VERY LITTLE MEETING, VERY LITTLE COHESION BETWEEN THE TWO ENTITIES.
UM, AND THAT MAY HAVE BEEN FINE BEFORE A ONE-TO-ONE PROGRAM, BUT IT DID NOT WORK.
ONCE WE STARTED IMPLEMENTING THE ONE-TO-ONE PROGRAMS, WE HAD TO BE ON THE SAME PAGE TO MAKE SURE THAT THE ADMINISTRATORS AT THE SCHOOL WAS GETTING THE INFORMATION OUT TO THE PARENTS AND THAT THE TECHNOLOGY PROVIDED WOULD BACK UP THOSE CLAIMS. DID YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ON CONNECT TO LEARN? YEAH, SO IT'S JUST BASICALLY ADDRESSING THE ONE, THE FACT THAT WE ARE ONE-TO-ONE DEVICE, IT DOESN'T HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH THE NETWORK, RIGHT? THAT WAS IT.
OUR NEXT SLIDE WE'LL BE MOVING INTO OUR AVAYA TO LEBANESE SYSTEM.
UM, THIS IS A DISTRICT WIDE SYSTEM WE CURRENTLY HAVE ABOUT 3,900 PHONES INSIDE OF OUR DISTRICT.
UM, THESE ARE PRETTY MUCH A LIFE SAFETY MEASURE, UM, AND WE ARE REQUIRED, UH, BY AN OSF RULE TO MAINTAIN 90 MINUTES OF RUNTIME IN OUR CLOSETS TO SUPPORT LIFE SAFETY EQUIPMENT, MEANING OUR TELEPHONES TO MAKE NINE ONE, ONE CALLS.
UM, SOME OF THE WAYS WE'VE BEEN EXPANDING OUR TELEPHONE SYSTEM IS ABOUT SIX YEARS AGO.
OUR TELEPHONE SYSTEM WAS PRETTY ARCHAIC.
WE HAD, UH, BASICALLY PRI LINES AT OUR PRIMARY AND OUR SECONDARY SITE.
WE HAVE A PRIMARY SITE NORTH OF THE BROAD AND A SECONDARY SITE SOUTH OF THE BROAD, BOTH OF THESE SITES HAVE, UH, PRI, UM, WHICH ARE PRIME RATE INTERFACES, WHICH ARE BASICALLY WHAT WE USED TO CALL T ONES.
SO YOU BASICALLY JUST HAVE A CHANNEL BANK OF PHONE LINES.
WE CURRENTLY MAINTAIN EIGHT BANKS AT EACH SITE THAT USED TO BE 16 BANKS AT EACH SITE.
THE REASON WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO REDUCE IT IS BY IMPLEMENTING VOICEOVER IP.
THAT HAS BEEN ONE OF THE, UH, BIG DRIVING FACTORS MOVING FORWARD WITH OUR TELEPHONY SYSTEM.
OUR VOICEOVER IP HANDSETS ARE A LOT CHEAPER THAN THE OLD STANDARD PHONE SETS.
UH, WE HAVE A LOT MORE FUNCTIONALITY WOULD ROUTING BECAUSE IT'S AN IP BASED SYSTEM.
YOU'RE NOT ALWAYS HAVING TO GO TO A CLOSET AND RECROSS CONNECT LINES.
SO IN TERMS OF ADAPTATION, WE'VE SEEN GREAT STRIDES WITH IT.
WE'RE ALSO ABLE TO DO A SOFT CLIENT NOW.
SO SAY YOU'RE AT HOME WOULD COVID, UM, OR IN QUARANTINE YOU HAVE A VPN CONNECTION BACK TO OUR NETWORK.
WE CAN NOW, UM, INSTALL WHAT'S CALLED THE AVAYA SOFT PHONE CLIENT, AND WE CAN ROUTE YOUR DESK PHONE DIRECTLY TO YOUR LAPTOP AT YOUR HOUSE.
IT'S ONE OF THE DRIVING FACTORS WE'VE BEEN WORKING ON FOR THE LAST YEAR AND A HALF, UH, TO KIND OF INTEGRATE MORE SOLUTIONS TO SUPPORT VIRTUAL WORKERS.
UM, WE'VE ALSO ENABLED, UH,
UM, AND BASICALLY WHAT THAT DOES IS BEFORE IF YOU CALLED
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THE SCHOOL DISTRICT, YOU WOULD ONLY SEE THE MAIN LINE OF THE SCHOOL DISTRICT WHEN FROM THE 9 1, 1 OPERATORS PERSPECTIVE.NOW WE'VE GONE THROUGH AND CODED ALL THE PHONES AND ABLE TO SEND OUT THE 9 1 1, UM, REQUIREMENT.
SO THEY'RE RESPONDING, POLICE OFFICER OR MEDICAL PERSONNEL WILL KNOW THAT THAT NINE ONE ONE CALL WAS MADE FROM SAY CONFERENCE ROOM E.
UM, SO IT HELPS DIRECT BECAUSE A LOT OF TIMES AN EMERGENCY COULD HAPPEN.
SOMEONE COULD CALL 9 1 1 FROM THE BACK OF THE BUILDING AT THE GYMNASIUM, THE FRONT OFFICE STAFF MIGHT NOT BE AWARE AND YOU'RE WASTING PRECIOUS MINUTES ON TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHERE THAT EMERGENCY HAPPENED AND HOW TO BETTER ROUTE THE PERSONNEL TO IT.
SO WITH THAT INFORMATION NOW, THE 9 1, 1 OPERATOR KNOWS EXACTLY WHERE THAT, UH, CALL INITIATED FROM TO HELP DIRECT THAT OFFICER AND WITH US INCREASING, UM, THE RADIO COVERAGE IN OF OUR BUILDINGS ARE, UH, THE RESPONDING OFFICERS NOW HAVE RADIO SIGNAL TO BE IN CONSTANT CONTACT WITH DISPATCH.
SO THAT WILL ALSO HELP THE, UM, THE COMMUNICATION ASPECT AND THAT PART OF THE PROJECT, WE CALL IT THE BDA PROJECT.
UM, WE'LL BE FINISHED BY THE END OF THE REFERENDUM AND IN EACH ONE OF THE SCHOOLS, WE WILL BE PUTTING IN REPEATERS AND SIGNAL BOOSTERS TO HELP BOOST, UH, THAT FIRST RESPONDER SIGNAL.
UM, ANOTHER, UM, SOME OF THE OTHER FEATURES WE USE ON OUR TELEPHONE SIDE IS POWER FAILURE.
LOCK-INS THESE ARE WHAT WE WOULD CALL OUR OLD LINES ARE COPPER LINES.
SO NO MATTER WHAT, EVEN IF THE POWER GOES OUT, THESE LINES ARE STILL AVAILABLE.
WE MAINTAIN COPPER BACKUP LINES AT THE FRONT OFFICE OF EVERY SCHOOL IN THE NURSE'S OFFICE OF EVERY SCHOOL AND IN THE PRINCIPAL'S OFFICE OF EVERY SCHOOL.
AND WE DO THAT JUST FOR THE SIMPLE FACT THAT SAY IT'S BEEN AFTER 90 MINUTES, AND IF OUR UPS HAS POWER DIED AND WE DON'T HAVE PHONES, THEY WILL STILL HAVE THESE PHONES AVAILABLE TO CALL OUT THE FRONT OFFICE OF EVERY SCHOOL IS ALSO EQUIPPED WITH AN EMERGENCY CELL PHONE.
THAT'S FOR THE SIMPLE CASE THAT IF WE DO HAVE AN EMERGENCY SITUATION OF FIRE AND ACTIVE SHOOTER, THAT PERSONNEL MIGHT NOT BE ABLE TO GO BACK TO THEIR OFFICE TO GRAB THEIR CELL PHONE OFF THEIR DESK OR OFF THEIR PURSE, THAT ONE'S RIGHT THERE BY THE FRONT COUNTER AND GIVES THEM QUICK COMMUNICATION TO GRAB AND GET OUT THE DOOR WITH ANOTHER WAY WE'VE BEEN HELPING BOOST.
THE COMMUNICATION FOR KEY DISTRICT PERSONNEL IS WE'VE APPLIED FOR THE, UH, THE HOMELAND SECURITY FEDERAL ACCESS CARDS FOR LANDLINES AND CELLULAR LINES.
SO BASICALLY KEY PERSONNEL GETS A HOMELAND SECURITY CARD WITH A SPECIAL ACCESS NUMBER.
AND IF THEY DIAL THAT ACCESS NUMBER FROM A LANDLINE, IT GIVES THEM PRIORITY ACCESS ON THE NETWORK.
THE ONLY PERSONS THAT WE WOULD NOT SUPERSEDE WITH PRIORITY ACCESS, OUR FIRST RESPONDER NETWORKS, ANY OF OUR 9 1, 1 ARE CRUCIAL MEDICAL PERSONNEL.
THOSE TYPES CALLS WOULD STILL GO AHEAD OF A SCHOOL DISTRICT PERSONNEL PRIORITY ACCESS.
UM, WE ALSO HAVE THE ABILITY TO USE THAT PRIORITY ACCESS ON CELLULAR TOWERS.
WE FOUND THIS, UH, VERY IMPORTANT, UH, DURING OUR MATTHEW EVENTS WHEN WE HAD SO MANY FIBER LINES DOWN, SO MANY CELLULAR TOWERS DOWN, UM, VERIZON, UM, T-MOBILE BROUGHT IN MOBILE TRUCKS WITH TOWERS, BUT THOSE WERE SO SATURATED BY CURRENT, UM, CITIZENS IN THE COMMUNITY THAT IT WAS VERY HARD TO MAKE PHONE CALLS AND ESPECIALLY KEY PHONE CALLS THAT NEED TO BE MADE IN THOSE TROUBLING TIMES.
UM, WE TALKED A LITTLE BIT ABOUT MARTINUZZI POWER, BASICALLY RIGHT NOW, EVERY SCHOOL HAS A GENERATOR THAT GENERATOR BACKS KEY LIGHTING OUR FREEZERS FOR OUR FOOD SERVICE AND THE MAIN CLOSETS FOR TECHNOLOGY.
NOW THAT WAS A SYSTEM PUT IN PLACE 10 YEARS AGO, THAT THE MAIN CLOSET WOULD BE THE ONLY CLOSET SUPPORTED BY GENERATOR BACKUP POWER, AS WE'VE MOVED MORE CRITICAL SYSTEMS TO OUR OUTLINE, CLOSETS AND SCHOOLS, AND MORE, MORE IP SERVICES.
WE NOTICED THE NEED THAT ALL OF OUR IT CLOSETS NEED TO BE GENERATOR BACKED.
AND THAT'S ONE OF THE FUNCTIONS OF THE NEW REFERENDUM THAT WHEN THE REFERENDUM WORK WILL BE COMPLETED, THAT ALL OF OUR IT CLOSETS WE'LL HAVE A GENERATOR BACK CIRCUIT THAT HELPS US IN TWO WAYS RIGHT NOW,
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MAINTAINING 90 MINUTES OF RUNTIME IN THESE CLOSETS TO KEEP THESE SWITCHES UP REQUIRES A LOT OF UPS POWER, A LOT OF BATTERY BACKUPS, BOTH OF THOSE ARE VERY EXPENSIVE TO MAINTAIN.IT'S A RECURRING COST EVERY FIVE TO SIX YEARS.
PLUS EVERY THREE YEARS YOU HAVE BATTERY SWAP OUTS.
SO IT IS A, IT IS A VERY MUCH A MONEY DRAIN ON OUR SYSTEM THAT WITH THE GENERATOR BACK CIRCUITS, WE WOULD BE ABLE TO REDUCE THAT BATTERY CAPACITY IN THESE CLOSETS AND STILL PROVIDE BETTER EFFICIENCY.
UM, ANOTHER REASON WHY WE MAINTAIN OUR UPS'S OR UNINTERRUPTED POWER SUPPLIES IN ALL OF OUR CLOSETS IS ONE FOR CLEAN POWER.
YOU WOULD NOT UNDERSTAND HOW BAD THE POWER THAT COMES INTO OUR BUILDING IS OUR MAIN EXAMPLE FOR THIS IS LADY'S ISLAND.
LADY'S ISLAND HAS SOME OF THE DIRTIEST POWER IN THE WHOLE COUNTY.
AND WHAT I MEAN BY THAT IS WHEN THAT POWER COMES IN, YOU SHOULD HAVE A NICE CLEAN SINE WAVE WHERE IT'S NICE AND STABLE POWER.
BUT UNFORTUNATELY WE HAVE A LOT OF LEGACY POWER PLANTS, ESPECIALLY ON SOME OF OUR BARRIER ISLANDS THAT DOES NOT ALLOW FOR THIS.
SO IT'S VERY FLUCTUATING POWER.
SO WE RUN THAT THROUGH OUR UPS IS FIRST TO CLEAN IT UP AND STABILIZE IT BECAUSE MOST OF THE EQUIPMENT IN THESE CLOSETS ARE VERY SENSITIVE TO POWER FLUCTUATIONS.
UM, THESE UPS HAS ALSO HELPED PROVIDE PROTECTION FROM LIGHTNING STRIKES AND SURGES BECAUSE THEY WILL OF COURSE BURN UP BEFORE THE MORE EXPENSIVE EQUIPMENT BEHIND IT.
UM, AND WE ALREADY TALKED ABOUT OUR OFFICE OF SCHOOL FACILITIES AND OUR 90 MINUTE RUNTIME REQUIREMENT FOR LIFE SAFETY MEASURES.
CAN YOU TELL ME WHO IS OUR HARD WIRE AND MOBILE TELEPHONIC SERVICE PROVIDER? UM, HARDWIRED WOULD BE HARD HEARTBREAK, COMMUNICATIONS, AND MOBILE WOULD BE VERIZON WIRELESS.
WHEN'S THE LAST TIME THOSE THE CONTRACT WITH THOSE TWO CARRIERS, UH, UH, IMPLEMENTED, UH, THE HEARTBREAK CONTRACT WAS RENEWED.
I WANT TO SAY IN LATE 19, EARLY 2000 FOR FIVE YEARS.
AND THEN FOR OUR VERIZON CONTRACT, WE PIGGYBACK OFF THE STATE CONTRACT.
OKAY, WELL, I'M A CONTRACT FROM 19 AND EARLY 2000 IS, UH, IS PROBABLY DUE FOR RENEGOTIATION.
YOU SAY FIVE YEARS WAS A CONTRACT.
UH, 2019 WAS THE LAST TIME WE, WE UPGRADED OUR HARGRAVE SERVICE CONTRACT AND WE SWITCHED TO THE STATE CONTRACT FROM HAVING A SEPARATE VERIZON CONTRACT, UM, A LITTLE OVER A YEAR AGO, THE STATE REDID THEIR CONTRACT AND GOT BETTER PRICING THAN WE HAD.
UM, WERE YOU, UH, AROUND, DURING THE NEGOTIATIONS FOR THE, UH, THE OTHER CONTRACT AND WAS THAT NEGOTIATION DONE IN CONCERT WITH SAY THE COUNTY COUNCIL OR ANY OF THE MUNICIPALITIES TO GET A BETTER DEAL? NO, SIR.
UH, WHAT I WOULD RECOMMEND IS THAT IN THE FUTURE, AS YOU GO FORWARD, THAT, YOU KNOW, WHAT THE OTHER GOVERNMENTAL AGENCIES ARE USING FOR THEIR CONTRACT, UH, SERVICE PROVIDER, AND TRY TO COORDINATE THAT YOU ALL GET TOGETHER AND GO IN WITH A CONSOLIDATED, UH, REQUEST, AND YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO GET AN EVEN BETTER PRICE DUE TO ECONOMIES OF SCALE, BUT AT THE TIME TO COORDINATE THAT IS NOW SO THAT, UH, YOU KNOW, WHEN ALL THE DIFFERENT CONTRACTS BECOME, UH, UH, UP FOR REBID.
UM, OUR NEXT PLACE IS INTER INTERNET EGRESS.
SO THIS IS WHERE THE INTERNET COMES INTO OUR SITES.
WE CURRENTLY MAINTAIN 5.5 GIGABITS TO THE INTERNET.
UM, THAT IS MORE THAN WHAT THE STATE RECOMMENDS.
THE STATE RECOMMENDS 100 MEGS FOR EVERY THOUSAND KIDS FOR INTERNET ACCESS.
[00:35:01]
SO THAT WOULD PUT US AT ABOUT TWO AND A HALF GIGS TO THE INTERNET.THAT'S GREAT WHEN YOU'RE NOT RUNNING A ONE-TO-ONE SYSTEM.
UM, BUT FOR OUR ONE-TO-ONE SYSTEM, WE'VE HAD TO GO OUT BEYOND THE STATE'S CAPACITY AND PURCHASE ON OUR OWN TWO EXTRA GIGS OF INTERNET SERVICE THROUGH THE STATE TO MAKE SURE WE HAVE THE FUNCTIONALITY TO SUPPORT VIRTUAL LEARNING IN OUR DISTRICT.
UM, AFTER IT COMES IN, UM, SEGRA IS THE PROVIDER.
THEY MAINTAIN A STATE EARACHE CONNECT, UM, E RATE AUTHORIZED CONTRACT WITH THE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA.
UM, SO THAT CONNECTIONS COMES IN ON OUR SEGRA LINE.
ONE THING I CAN SAY IS THAT ONE OF THE BIGGEST ISSUES WE'VE HAD WITH OUR INTERNET CONNECTION IS ABOUT ONCE, ONCE TO TWICE A YEAR, UH, WE WILL HAVE, UH, YOUR, YOUR NORMAL, UH, BACKHOE OR REC THAT DAMAGES THE MAIN FIBER LINE COMING INTO THE DISTRICT.
NOW, WHAT WE DO AS A STOP GAP IS WE DO HAVE A SMALL CIRCUIT PROVIDED BY HART GRAY AS A MINIMALISTIC BACKUP.
WHAT WE'VE BEEN WORKING WITH THE PAST THREE YEARS ON WITH THE STATE IS TO HAVE A TWO CONNECTIONS COME IN TWO DIFFERENT LOCATIONS, ONE TO OUR PRIMARY SITE AND ONE TO OUR SECONDARY SITE.
UM, THE REASON IT'S TAKING A WHILE TO GET THIS IN PLACE IS BECAUSE OF THE RATE PROCUREMENT STANDARDS.
THE FACT THAT E RATE DOES NOT DEEM THEY, THEY SEE THAT AS A BACKUP CONNECTION, WHICH TECHNICALLY IT WOULDN'T BE A BACKUP CONNECTION BECAUSE WE WOULD BE PUTTING BASICALLY TWO AND A HALF GIGS AT ONE LOCATION AND THREE GIGS AT ANOTHER LOCATION.
SO THERE WOULDN'T BE REDUNDANCY AND BACKUP.
UM, IT'S TAKEN A COUPLE OF YEARS AND WE'VE WORKED WITH, UH, GREENVILLE, CHARLESTON, UM, BERKELEY COUNTY, ORANGE COUNTY, RICHLAND AND LEXINGTON, TO ALL ARGUE WITH THE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA, THAT THIS IS SOMETHING VERY IMPORTANT AND SOMETHING THAT WE NEED THE STATE HAS FINALLY GOT THE DOCUMENTATION IN PLACE FOR US TO START MOVING FORWARD.
AND WE HOPE TO HAVE THAT IN PLACE IN EARLY 20, 22.
AND IT IS GOING TO BE A MAJOR STEP FORWARD FOR THE DISTRICT, BECAUSE EVEN IF WE LOSE ONE OF THE LINES, SO WOULD THAT FIRST TWO GIG LINE, THEY'RE BOTH GOING TO BE PROVIDED BY SEGRA, BUT ONE WILL BE COMING IN ON A HEARTBREAK FIBER.
AND THE OTHER ONE WILL BE COMING IN ON, SAY AN AT AND T FIBER OR ANOTHER PROVIDER'S FIBER.
IT'S VERY LITTLE CHANCE THAT BOTH OF THOSE FIBER LINES WILL BE CUT AT THE SAME TIME.
IT ALSO HELPS US OUT HAVING THE CONNECTIONS AT OUR BACKUP DATA CENTER IS BECAUSE RIGHT NOW OUR BACKUP DATA CENTER IS A COLD DATA CENTER.
BASICALLY WE CAN'T IMMEDIATELY SPIN UP OUR SERVERS, EVEN THOUGH THEY'RE VIRTUALIZED DOWN THERE.
WE CAN'T LINK THAT BACK TO OUR DNS, UM, DOMAIN NAMING SYSTEM THAT WE GET FROM THE STATE, FROM OUR INTERNET PIPE.
SO ONCE WE HAVE THAT PIPE SPLIT AND BOTH OF THOSE LOCATIONS, WE WOULD THEN BE ABLE TO HAVE TWO HOT SITES.
AS SOON AS OUR MAIN SITE WENT DOWN, OUR SECOND SITE WOULD START SPINNING THOSE SERVERS UP IMMEDIATELY.
AND, UM, OUR DOWNTIME WOULD BE MINIMIZED, OH, SORRY.
I THINK I BUMPED IT BY ACCIDENT.
UM, ONCE THAT INFORMATION LEAVES THE FIREWALL, WE GO THROUGH OUR CONTENT FILTER.
WE BASICALLY HAVE A PHYSICAL CONTENT FILTER ON SITE BECAUSE WE HAVE SO MUCH DIFFERENT EQUIPMENT.
WE HAVE OLD, UM, OLDER EQUIPMENT THAT SERVICES OUR AC UNITS.
WELL, THOSE UNITS, THAT EQUIPMENT DOESN'T HAVE PHYSICAL LOGINS.
SO IF THAT EQUIPMENT WAS TO BE HACKED OR TRIED TO ACCESS THE INTERNET, IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT DEVICE YOU TRY TO COME IN ON.
YOU'RE ALWAYS GOING TO BE FILTERED AND RELATIVELY SAFE.
I SAY RELATIVELY SAFE BECAUSE THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS A HUNDRED PERCENT ACCURATE CONTENT FILTER.
BASICALLY EVERY MINUTE OF THE, EVERY OF EVERY DAY, 3000 WEBSITES ARE ADDED.
SO NO MATTER HOW GOOD OF A SYSTEM YOU HAVE, YOU ARE ALWAYS GOING TO HAVE SOME LAG TIME BETWEEN A NEW SITE COMING UP AND THE WEB SPIDERS CAPTURING IT AND, UM, DESIGNATING THE FILTERING PROCESS FOR, UM, SO AFTER THE CONTENT FILTER, WE ENTER THE CORE ROUTER AT OUR DISTRICT OFFICE.
[00:40:01]
CONTROLS ALL THE FUNCTIONALITY OF OUR DATA CENTER.IT IS OUR HIGHWAYS TO OUR HYPERCONVERGED SERVER FARMS, OUR MAJOR SAN ENVIRONMENT, WHERE ALL OF OUR FILES ARE STORED.
AND IT ALSO HANDLES ALL THE LINKS TO OUR METRO ETHERNET NETWORK.
WHAT OUR METRO ETHERNET NETWORK IS, IS WHAT'S PROVIDED BY HARBORING PARK RATE, PROVIDES FIBER CONNECTIVITY TO ALL OUR BUILDINGS, OUR MAIN DATA CENTER AND OUR BACKUP DATA CENTER HAS A 10 GIG CONNECTION TO THIS FIBER BACKBONE.
AND EACH ONE OF OUR SCHOOL SITES HAVE A ONE GIG CONNECTION TO THIS FIBER BACKBONE.
NOW WE HAVE STARTED SEEING SOME TIMES WHERE IT DOESN'T LOOK LIKE, YES, YOU CAN CONNECT TO GO FORWARD.
SO WE ARE SLOWLY NOW STARTING TO SEE SOME AREAS WHERE WE'RE STARTING TO SEE HIGHER CONGESTION RATES.
WE'RE STARTING TO SEE WHEN A LINK STARTS TO GET OVER 1600 USERS, BE STAFF, STUDENTS, OR A COMBINATION OF BOTH.
WE'RE STARTING TO START TO SEE LAG IN THOSE SITES.
IT'S NOT ALL DURING THE DAY, BUT YOU SEE IT DURING YOUR PEAK TIMES.
SO ONE OF THE THINGS WE STARTED IMPLEMENTING IS AT CAMPUS LOCATIONS AND OUR MAIN SITES, WE'RE GOING TO START ADDING TWO GIG CONNECTIONS.
WE DID OUR FIRST, UM, AT THE BEGINNING OF THIS PAST SUMMER, UM, WE DID, UM, OUR CAMPUS LOCATION FOR HG MCCRACKEN, MIDDLE SCHOOL AND BLUFFTON ELEMENTARY, BLUFFTON ECC.
THOSE ALL SHARED A ONE GIG PIPE AND THEY NOW SHARE A TWO GIG PIPE.
UM, WE ALSO ADDED THAT TO SDA IBE AND BUFORD HIGH SCHOOL IS OUR FIRST THREE TEST SITES.
UM, WE'RE LOOKING FOR UPCOMING LOCATIONS FOR MAY RIVER HIGH SCHOOL HILTON HEAD HIGH SCHOOL AND BLUFFTON HIGH SCHOOL.
UM, AND BASICALLY WE, WE DIDN'T DO ALL OF OUR HIGH SCHOOL LOCATIONS AT THE SAME TIME, JUST FOR THE SIMPLE FACT THAT WHENEVER WE IMPLEMENT ANYTHING NEW, WE LIKE TO PUT IT THROUGH OUR TESTING PHASE.
WE HAD THAT ONE GIG CONNECTION THERE.
SO WE'RE ONLY ADDING A TWO GIG CONNECTION, BUT WE WANT TO DO OUR DUE DILIGENCE AND HAVE OUR MONITORING CAPABILITIES TO MAKE SURE THAT WE DON'T MISS ANYTHING WHENEVER WE ADD AN EXTRA NODE TO OUR NETWORK.
UM, YEAH, THIS IS, I WAS TRYING TO, UH, GET A HANDLE ON THIS.
SO BASICALLY WHAT YOU'RE SAYING IS THAT EVERY SCHOOL HAS THE SAME PIPELINE, A ONE GIGABIT PIPELINE TO EACH CAMPUS.
SO FORT ROYAL ELEMENTARY WITH 300 STUDENTS HAS THE SAME INTERNET CAPACITY AS MAY RIVER HIGH SCHOOL WITH 1500 STUDENTS.
IS THAT TYPICAL? DO WE NOT HAVE THE, THE ABILITY TO, UH, LOOK AT A PER STUDENT, UH, CAPACITY AS OPPOSED TO A PER BUILDING CAPACITY? ONE OF THE THINGS WE'VE IMPLEMENTED WAS THAT WHEN THAT SITE GETS TO 1600, WE INITIATE UPGRADING THE CONNECTION.
SO WE TOOK THAT UPON AS OUR OWN DISTRICT, AND THERE'S NOT A STATE STANDARD FOR THAT.
ACCORDING TO THE STATE, MOST OF OUR ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS WOULD ONLY GET A 100 MEG CONNECTION AND THAT WOULD NOT SUPPORT DOES VIRTUAL LEARNINGS, ZOOM, AND A LOT OF THE FUNCTIONALITY THAT OUR TEACHERS AND STUDENTS HAVE LEARNED TO RELY ON.
YEAH, I'M JUST TRYING TO IMAGINE.
I MEAN, HIGH SCHOOL, I THINK AS YOU'RE POINTING OUT HAS TREMENDOUS MORE BANDWIDTH NEEDS BECAUSE YOU'RE RUNNING ALL THESE DIFFERENT CLASSES, YOU'RE RUNNING A LOT MORE VIDEO CAPACITY.
YOU HAVE A MORE ROBUST THEATER, YOU HAVE ROTC, YOU HAVE MORE, YOU KNOW, THERE'S JUST MORE STUFF GOING ON.
AND WE'VE GOT THESE HIGH SCHOOLS THAT HAVE 1500 KIDS THAT HAVE THE SAME CAPACITY AS PORT ROYAL ELEMENTARY, WHICH OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD, I THINK IS OUR SMALLEST ELEMENTARY SCHOOL.
SO WHAT CONCERNS ME IS THAT THERE'S A TREMENDOUS DISADVANTAGE TO THE TWO SCHOOLS THAT ARE AT OR ABOVE CAPACITY COMPARED TO SCHOOLS THAT ARE WELL BELOW THEIR CAPACITY.
AND DOES IT COST THE SAME, LIKE, IS IT WE'RE SPENDING THE SAME AMOUNT OF MONEY FOR EACH SCHOOL CAMPUS REGARDLESS OF ENROLLMENT OR USAGE? OR HOW DOES THAT WORK? UM, BASICALLY YOU'RE PAYING FOR THE CIRCUIT SIZE.
SO AS LONG AS THEY'VE ALL GOT ONE GIG CIRCUITS, THE COST WOULD BE THE SAME.
SO AGAIN, IS THAT WHAT'S NORMAL IN SCHOOL DISTRICTS THAT YOU DON'T HAVE ANY KIND OF TAILORING TO THE NEEDS OF THE SCHOOL.
IT'S ONE SIZE FITS ALL APPROACH.
UM, MOST SCHOOL DISTRICTS DO NOT HAVE THE BANDWIDTH CAPABILITIES AS OUR DISTRICTS.
WELL IN SOUTH CAROLINA, THAT MIGHT BE TRUE.
I DON'T KNOW ABOUT OUTSIDE OF, WELL.
I SEE MY KIDS GO TO CHATHAM COUNTY SCHOOLS IN GEORGIA AND, UH, THEY MAY HAVE ONE ACCESS POINT FOR EVERY
[00:45:01]
SIX CLASSROOMS IN THEIR BUILDINGS.UM, THEY DON'T HAVE ANY TECH SUPPORT AT THEIR SCHOOLS.
UM, AND IT'S A TWO WEEK RESPONSE TIME FOR A TECH SUPPORT TICKET.
AND I THINK IT'S ADMIRABLE THAT WE HAVE ONE GIGABYTE PER GIGABIT PER SECOND PER TO EACH SCHOOL, BUT WE'RE PAYING FOR THAT.
AND IF YOU'VE GOT AN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL AND IT SOUNDS LIKE WE'RE LOOKING AT USAGE AND LAG TIMES IS THAT DATA KEPT SOMEWHERE WHERE WE CAN SAY, LOOK, WE DON'T NEED THIS SCHOOL.
WE WANT THE CAPABILITY TO ONE DAY, MAYBE HAVE THAT, BUT WE DON'T NEED TO BE PAYING FOR ONE GIG A BIT AT THESE SMALL UNDER ENROLLED SCHOOLS.
AND MAYBE WE CAN UPGRADE, YOU KNOW, AT THESE OTHER SCHOOLS THAT ARE BURSTING OUT THE SEAMS. UM, WE DO LOOK AT THAT DATA AND BASICALLY WE LOOK AT A SNAPSHOT OF THE EIGHT HOUR DAY.
AND GENERALLY SPEAKING FOR THE AVERAGE SCHOOL, WE SEE ABOUT AN HOUR AND A HALF WINDOW WHERE IT'S GETTING CLOSE TO MAXING ITS CAPACITY OUT.
THAT IS GENERALLY BETWEEN THE SEVEN 30 AND NINE 30 TIME OF DAY.
THEN WE SEE ANOTHER BIG SPIKE HIT SOMEWHERE BETWEEN 1130 AND ONE 30, UM, KIND OF HAS THE KIDS FINISHED THEIR LUNCH ROUTINES.
SO IF WE SEE OUR BANDWIDTH SPIKE FOR 15 MINUTES ONLY, BUT YET THE REST OF THE DAY, WE'RE ONLY AT ABOUT 60% OF OUR TOTAL CAPACITY.
WE DON'T SEE THE NEED TO INCREASE IT.
BUT WHAT WE HAVE STARTED SEEING, ESPECIALLY WITH THE INCREASE IN ZOOM, THE INCREASE IN VIRTUAL IS LIKE YOU SAID, OUR HIGHER, UM, UH, USER FACILITIES ARE STARTING TO SEE THOSE LAG TIMES GROW.
AND THAT'S WHAT MADE US START IMPLEMENTING THE TWO GIGS FOR OUR BIGGER SITES LAST YEAR.
AND IT JUST SO HAPPENED THAT AT THE TIME WE WERE RUNNING OUR REPORTS, WE WERE NOT SEEING THE SPIKES THAT MAY RIVER.
NOW I'M NOT SAYING THEY WEREN'T THERE, BUT WE WERE NOT SEEING THOSE 15 MINUTE TIMELINES WHERE THE CONNECTION PIPE WAS SATURATED.
CAN I ASK ONE MORE QUESTION, MR. CHAIRMAN, I DON'T WANT TO MONOPOLIZE.
SO AGAIN, I KNOW THAT WHEN YOU LOOK, ARE WE GOING OUT AND TALKING TO THESE SCHOOLS ABOUT SPIKES AND USAGE, BECAUSE ONE OF MY CONCERNS WOULD BE TOO THAT YOU SEE A SPIKE AND THEN PEOPLE, THE INTERNET GOES AND EVERYONE GETS OFF BECAUSE IT'S BASICALLY BEEN RENDERED, YOU KNOW, NOT FUNCTIONAL.
SO THAT'S WHAT, WHEN I, WHEN YOU TELL ME THERE'S A SPIKE FIRST THING IN THE MORNING, AND THEN IT DIES OFF, ARE WE VERIFYING THAT THAT'S BECAUSE FOR SOME REASON, FIRST PERIOD USAGE CHANGES AT LIKE SAY A BUSY HIGH SCHOOL, LIKE MAY RIVER OR HILTON HEAD, OR IS IT BECAUSE PEOPLE ARE LIKE, WELL, THE INTERNET SLOW, I'M GOING TO GO AHEAD AND JUST HAND OUT THESE WORKBOOKS OR SOMETHING.
NO, GENERALLY OUR SPIKE COMES FROM NON-EDUCATIONAL SOFTWARE, THE USE OF, UH, YOUTUBE, UM, AND DIFFERENT VIDEO SITES.
YOU KNOW, WE BLOCK THE MAJORITY OF OUR VIDEO SITES, YOUR NETFLIX, YOUR HULU'S, THOSE KINDS OF SITES, BUT YOUTUBE HAS BECOME SUCH AN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCE.
IT'S VERY HARD TO SHUT IT OFF.
ONE OF THE THINGS WE DO DO IS THAT WE USE WHAT'S CALLED PACKET SHAPING.
SO WE HAVE THE CAPABILITIES IN OUR FIREWALL THAT SAY AN AVERAGE DAY, YOU HAVE 500 MEGS GOING TO YOUTUBE.
WELL, IF YOU SEE THAT TRAFFIC SPIKE TO ONE GIG, WE MIGHT CAN FLIP A SWITCH AND GO, NO, WE ONLY WANT 500 MEGS.
WE ALSO USE THE PACKET SHAPING TECHNOLOGY DURING STATE TESTING.
UM, OUR BANDWIDTH IS VERY CRITICAL DURING THOSE TESTING WINDOWS AND WE DON'T WANT THE KIDS SITTING AROUND WATCHING VIDEOS, UH, EATING UP FRIVOLOUS BANDWIDTH.
SO DURING KEY STATE TESTING, WE, A LOT OF TIMES SHUT OFF YOUTUBE FOR THOSE THAT DAY OR THOSE COUPLE OF DAYS TO MINIMIZE BANDWIDTH CONGESTION.
UM, THIS TALKS A LITTLE BIT ABOUT OUR DATA STORAGE REPLICATION.
UM, SO YOU BASICALLY SEE OUR PRIMARY DATA CENTER, OUR SECONDARY DATA CENTER.
THESE TWO ARE MADE UP OF A HYPERCONVERGED VIRTUAL SERVER FARM, AND THEN A BACKEND SAND FOR THE S THE BASE STORAGE FOR DIFFERENT DEPARTMENTS AND EDUCATIONAL NEEDS.
UM, THE DATA IS REPLICATED FROM OUR PRIMARY DATA CENTER IN REAL-TIME TO OUR SECONDARY DATA CENTER.
AT THE SAME TIME, WE'RE TAKING SNAPSHOTS THAT ARE REPLICATED
[00:50:01]
TO OUR BACKUP APPLIANCE.THAT'S ALSO AT OUR SECONDARY DATA CENTER.
UM, AFTER THESE SNAPSHOTS ARE CAPTURED IN REAL TIME DURING THE DAY, THOSE SNAPSHOTS ARE THEN UPLOADED TO A CLOUD REPLICA IN WHICH WE KEEP DAILY, WEEKLY, MONTHLY SNAPSHOTS OF OUR ENVIRONMENT.
UM, THE MAIN REASON WE KEEP SO FAR BACK IS BECAUSE OF RANSOMWARE.
THE BIGGEST THING YOU CAN DO FOR RANSOMWARE IS HAVE SEPARATE SLICES OF COLD STORAGE OF YOUR DATA.
THAT'S THE ONLY WAY YOU CAN KEEP IT FROM GETTING INFECTED OR HAVE THAT INFECTION SPREAD BETWEEN YOUR HOUSE DATA.
UM, AT THAT SAME TIME, WE ALSO TAKE OUR INDIVIDUAL SCHOOL SERVERS.
UM, EVERY SCHOOL SITE HAS A HYPER-CONVERGED SERVER.
AND THE REASON I SAY HYPER-CONVERGED SERVER IS BECAUSE WE USED TO HAVE A BARE METAL SERVER FOR EVERY SERVER IN THE DISTRICT.
SO WE HAD LIKE 250 PHYSICAL BOXES.
WE NOW HAVE ABOUT 70 PHYSICAL BOXES BECAUSE WE'RE ABLE TO USE THAT FARM MENTALITY TO MORE EFFICIENTLY SHARE OUT THOSE RESOURCES TO OUR USERS.
SO ON THE SCHOOL SIDE, ON THAT SCHOOL, VIRTUAL SERVER, WE HAVE MULTIPLE SERVERS ON IT.
WE HAVE A BASE SERVER THAT DOES YOUR STANDARD DHCP, WHICH GIVES OUT IP ADDRESSES TO THE LOCAL, UM, UM, DEVICES THERE.
WE HAVE PRINT SERVERS THAT DO LOCAL PRINT PRINTING, BUT WE ALSO HAVE A LOT OF TESTING CACHING SERVERS WE'RE REQUIRED TO MAINTAIN BY THE STATE.
WHEREAS IF WE'RE IN THE MIDDLE OF A STATE TESTING AND WE LOSE OUR INTERNET CONNECTION TO THAT BUILDING BECAUSE OF SAID BACKHOE OR SOME CRAZINESS THAT HAPPENS, UM, ALL OF THAT DATA FROM OUR KIDS TAKING THOSE TESTS ARE BEING STORED ON THAT CACHING SERVER AND WILL REMAIN THERE AND TOLD THE INTERNET CONNECTION IS REESTABLISHED, AND THAT DATA WILL BE THEN TRANSFERRED UP TO THE STATE.
UM, WE'LL GET INTO A LITTLE BIT OF CLOUD SERVICES.
THESE ARE SOME OF THE MAIN CLOUD SERVICES WE'VE USED, OR WE USE IN THE DISTRICT.
UH, TWO OF THE BIGGEST ONE IS OUR MICROSOFT IS YOUR AND OUR GOOGLE CLOUD SERVICES.
WE MAINLY USE OUR GOOGLE CLOUD SERVICES FOR OUR STAFF AND STUDENTS FOR GOOGLE CLASSROOM.
WE MAINLY USE THE MICROSOFT AZURE CLOUD FOR OUR BACKEND DATA CENTER.
WE MAINTAIN, UM, EXCUSE ME, DIFFERENT DNS SERVERS UP IN MICROSOFT'S AZURE CLOUD.
AND THIS IS ABLE TO HELP US FACILITATE OUR REMOTE WORKERS, UM, AND OUR REMOTE STUDENTS AND OUR, UM, DIFFERENT VPN CONNECTIONS BACK TO US.
SO IF FOR ANY REASON, OUR BUILDING WAS TO GO OFFLINE, OUR USERS CAN STILL MAINTAIN THE FUNCTIONALITY OF VPN CONNECTIONS, EMAIL CONNECTIONS, UM, OUR ZOOM, WEB CONFERENCING.
UH, ONE OF THE BIGGEST ONES IS CLASS LINK THAT ALL OF OUR TEACHERS AND STUDENTS CHOOSE, NO MATTER WHAT WE, UH, UP UNTIL TWO YEARS AGO, WE HAD A OFFSHOOT SERVER INSIDE OF OUR DISTRICT.
SO IF OUR DISTRICT OFFICE WENT DOWN, OUR USERS WOULD NOT ABLE TO GET TO THOSE RESOURCES, UM, TO A COUPLE OF THE MAJOR ONES WE'VE DONE THIS SUMMER WAS OUR ADOBE CLOUD SUITE.
THAT IS A BIG PROPONENT IN OUR TAPE PROGRAMS AND USED BY ALMOST EVERY DEPARTMENT IN THE DISTRICT, UM, AND, UH, POWER SCHOOL, WHICH IS OUR MAIN SIS FOR STUDENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS. UM, THAT WAS ONE OF THE BIGGEST ONES BECAUSE NOT ONLY DID IT GET IT OFF OF, UM, OUR LOCAL SERVERS TO MAINTAIN POWER SCHOOL ON SITE WAS A 16 SERVER FARM TO SERVICE ONLY OUR STUDENTS.
SO NOW THAT IS TAKEN OVER BY THE STATE AND ALL HOUSED IN THE CLOUD.
UM, AND WE'VE HAD GREAT FUNCTIONALITY OUT OF IT SINCE WE CONVERTED OVER IN JULY.
UH, ONE OF THE NEXT BIG ONES GOING TO OUR CLOUD SERVICES WILL BE OUR MUNIS, UH, BACK IN BUSINESS SYSTEMS. UM, AND WE ARE LOOKING AT US 2020 TO MAKE THAT CONVERSION.
I'M GOING TO INTERRUPT FOR JUST A SECOND HERE.
UM, AND THEN I'LL LET YOU GO INGRID ON THE ONE HOUR.
SO I DON'T THINK WE'RE GOING TO GET THROUGH THE REST OF THESE SLIDES TODAY.
SO WE HAVE TO DECIDE WHAT WE WANT TO DO, WHETHER WE WANT TO
[00:55:01]
GO ON FOR ANOTHER HALF HOUR, SEE WHERE WE ARE, UH, OR IF WE WANT TO STOP AND THEN CONTINUE IT AT OUR NEXT MEETING.WHAT DO YOU THINK DEREK I'D LIKE TO CONTINUE? I HAVE SOME QUESTIONS I'M WAITING FOR THE END OF THE BRIEFING TO SEE IF IT'S COVERED, BUT I CONTINUE.
WELL, AND I CAN WAIT AND ASK MY QUESTIONS LATER, BUT I HAVE A LOT OF QUESTIONS ABOUT A GENERAL QUESTION ABOUT SOME OF THESE CLOUD SERVICES.
UM, YOU KNOW, CAUSE SOME THINGS ARE NOT ON HERE, LIKE, UH, FRONTLINE FOR APP TRACKING, WHICH WAS BOUGHT BY SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGY.
SO I GUESS WE TECHNICALLY HAVE A SCHOOL OLOGY LEARN, WHICH IS A LEARNING MANAGEMENT SYSTEM IN AND OF ITSELF.
UM, ONE OF MY QUESTIONS, LIKE FOR EXAMPLE, BRIGHT ARROW, MASS COMMUNICATION, THAT'S RELATIVELY NEW, RIGHT? SO, BUT POWER SCHOOL HAS REGROUP MASS NOTIFICATION SYSTEM.
SO THIS IS NOT A SPECIFIC QUESTION, BUT ONE THING I HAVE, THIS IS A LOT OF CLOUD SERVICES.
UM, I DON'T KNOW WHAT EACH INDIVIDUAL CLOUD SERVICE, YOU CAN FIND IT OUT, BUT EACH CLOUD SERVICE HAS A BANDWIDTH.
SO IT'S TAKEN UP A LOT OF BANDWIDTH.
THEY REQUIRE, AS YOU SAW ON THE NOC, YOU KNOW, JOB BREAKDOWN, UH, SUPPORT, YOU KNOW, IN ADDITION TO WHICH, AND I'M JUST WONDERING, DO WE HAVE LIKE A PLAN WHEN IT COMES TO BUYING THESE CLOUD SERVICES THAT WE AREN'T JUST ADDING SERVICES KIND OF, YOU KNOW, TO THE CHEAPEST BIDDER AND NOT LOOKING AT A COMPREHENSIVE SORT OF HERE ARE THE SERVICES WE WANT TO OFFER STUDENTS AND STAFF WHAT'S THE MOST EFFICIENT PATH TO GET THERE? UH, YES WE DO.
WE, WE USUALLY GO THROUGH A PRETTY INTENSIVE BACKGROUND SEARCH ON THESE COMPANIES TO VERIFY THAT NOT ONLY ARE THEY A SECURE CLOUD, BUT WE ALSO ASK THE QUESTIONS.
WHAT, WHAT DO YOU DO WITH OUR DATA? DO YOU SELL OUR DATA? UM, THERE'S A LOT OF COMPANIES OUT THERE THAT, THAT DO A LOT OF A WEIRD STUFF WITH, UH, PRIVATE DATA.
THAT'S TECHNICALLY THEY CONTROL WHEN IT'S IN THE CLASS.
SO JUST AS AN EXAMPLE, WHY DID WE NOT USE POWERSCHOOL'S MASS NOTIFICATION SYSTEM? WHY DID WE GO OUT AND GET A SEPARATE, BRIGHT ARROW MASS COMMUNICATION SYSTEM? UM, PREVIOUS TO, UH, BRIGHT ARROW, WE USED, UH, A MASS COMMUNICATION CALLED SCHOOL MESSENGER.
UM, THE MAIN DIFFERENCE WITH IT IS BECAUSE INSIDE A POWERSCHOOL IS NOT ALL OF OUR STAFF AND WORKERS IN THE DISTRICT.
SO WHEN WE DO BRIGHT ARROW, IT IS COMPLETELY, WE CAN DO ALL STAFF, ALL STUDENTS, ALL SCHOOLS, WE HAVE A LOT MORE FUNCTIONALITY WITH GETTING MESSAGES OUT THAN WE DO INSIDE A POWER SCHOOL.
IT WAS A LITTLE BIT LIMITED IN THE OVERALL FUNCTIONALITY AS WHAT THE COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT FOUND WHEN WE WERE REVIEWING IT.
I JUST, MY IMPRESSION, WHEN I LOOK AT THAT, IT'S JUST PULL, THAT'S A LOT OF CLOUD SERVICES AND A LOT OF OVERLAPPING, YOU KNOW, BETWEEN MUNIS AND GOOGLE AND MICROSOFT AND, YOU KNOW, OFFICE 365.
I MEAN, THERE'S A LOT OF STACKED FUNCTIONALITY THERE.
SO IT JUST KIND OF, IT FEELS OVERWHELMING JUST TO SEE A LIST OF IT.
THIS IS BASICALLY OUR TYPICAL SCHOOL LAN LOCAL AREA NETWORK.
SO INSIDE OF EVERY SCHOOL, WE'RE GOING TO HAVE OUR MAIN CLOSET, WHICH IS THE BIGGEST WINDOW ON THE LEFT SIDE, WHICH HAS OUR METRO E HANDOFF FROM HART GRAY.
WE THEN GO INTO OUR MAIN CORE SWITCHES FOR THAT SCHOOL.
AND ON THE MAIN CLOSET, THERE'S ALWAYS A SMALL STACK HANGING OFF OF IT TO SUPPORT THE USER'S ACCESS POINTS, CAMERAS, ALL THE WONDERFUL GEAR.
NOW THAT CLOSET CONNECTS TO MULTIPLE CLOSETS WITHIN THE SCHOOL.
AND DEPENDING ON HOW BIG THE SCHOOL IS, WILL GIVE US THE AMOUNT OF CLOSETS AND THE AMOUNT OF SWITCHES IN EACH CLOSET.
WE CURRENTLY HAVE TWO FIBERS GOING TO EACH OF THESE CLOSETS WITH 10 GIGABYTE BACKBONE, CONNECTIONS.
UH, WE DO THIS BECAUSE EACH CLOSET IS BASICALLY WHAT WE CALL A STACK.
THEY ARE CONNECTED TOGETHER WITH STACKING CABLES.
AND AS LONG AS YOU HAVE TWO MAIN FIBERS IN THAT STACK, IF ONE SWITCH GOES OUT, THE STACK REMAINS UP AND RUNNING.
NOW, ONE GOOD THING TO NOTE IS THAT WE HAVE JUST STARTED OUR NEW, UM, SWITCH E RATE, UM, REFRESH.
AND WITH OUR NEW SWITCHES, OUR BACKBONE CONNECTION TO CLOSET IS GOING TO BE UPGRADING FROM 10 GIGABYTES TO 40 GIGABYTES.
AND OUR BACKBONE CONNECTION IN OUR KNOX IS GOING TO BE UPGRADING FROM 20 GIGABYTES TO 100 GIGABYTES
[01:00:01]
FOR OUR BACKEND HYPERCONVERGED NETWORK.AND WE PRETTY MUCH, WE DON'T UP TOTALLY UPGRADE ALL OF THESE BACKEND ANCILLARY CONNECTIONS.
EVERY TIME WE DO A EQUIPMENT UPGRADE, WE BASICALLY TAKE IT, UM, AS WE'RE NOT REALLY A BEST IN CLASS SERVICE, BECAUSE BEST IN CLASS MEANS BLEEDING EDGE OF THE SWORD WHEN IT COMES TO BEING A BUG FIX FINDER FOR THESE COMPANIES.
SO WE LIKE TO COME ON BOARD A COUPLE OF YEARS AFTER THE TECHNOLOGY HAS BEEN OUT, IT'S STABILIZED AND THE COST OF THE GEAR HAS DRAMATICALLY DECREASED.
NOW WE DON'T WANT TO GET TOO FAR DOWN THAT PATH BECAUSE ONCE YOU START GETTING IN THE FOUR TO FIVE YEARS OF THAT TECHNOLOGY BEING OUT, IT'S ALREADY STARTING TO GET OPS UP TO LEAD AND YOU START TO HAVE A LOT OF BUGS AND MALWARE BEING INJECTED OR BEING CAPABLE OF BEING INJECTED INTO THOSE SYSTEMS. UM, NEXT DESIGN MODE.
NOW THIS IS OUR TYPICAL, UM, WIRELESS LOCAL AREA NETWORK.
AS YOU CAN SEE, WE BASICALLY PUT A WIRELESS ACCESS POINT IN EVERY CLASSROOM.
OUR STANDARD WIRELESS ACCESS POINT COULD TECHNICALLY HANDLE ABOUT 50 CLIENTS, BUT DEPENDING ON THE BANDWIDTH REQUIREMENT FOR EACH USER AT THE TIME WE'VE SEEN APS HANDLE A COUPLE HUNDRED CLIENTS IN LIKE AN AUDITORIUM ENVIRONMENT WHERE THEY'RE NOT DOING, UH, INTRUSIVE CONNECTIONS AND VIDEO CONNECTIONS, BUT WE FOUND THAT THE SWEET SPOT IN OUR CLASSROOM IS THAT ONE AP PER CLASSROOM, TO HANDLE THOSE 25 TO 30 INDIVIDUALS AS YOU MOVE AROUND THE BUILDING, WE, UM, WE ALSO PROVIDE SERVICES IN ALL CAFETERIAS, ALL GYMNASIUMS AND ALL PACKS.
THESE ARE BECAUSE THESE ARE HIGHLY PRIZED MEETING AREAS FOR OUR SCHOOLS AND SCHOOL STAFFS FOR PTA MEETINGS, UM, PEP RALLIES AND ALL DIFFERENT KINDS OF SCHOOL FUNCTIONS.
UM, WHEN I FIRST CAME TO THE DISTRICT 12 YEARS AGO, WE HAD FOUR APS PER SCHOOL.
UM, AND WE'VE HAD THREE ALTERATIONS OF WIRELESS SINCE THEN.
UM, AND THOSE WENT TO ONE EVERY FOUR CLASSROOMS AND THEN ONE EVERY TWO CLASSROOMS. AND NOW WE'RE ONE EVERY CLASSROOM.
AND ALL OF THOSE HAVE BEEN BASED ON THE FUNCTIONALITY OF DATA THAT WE HAVE, UH, STRAPPED RELATED FROM THE BANDWIDTH FLOWING THROUGH THESE DEVICES AND THE AMOUNT OF DEVICES WE'VE ADDED TO THE NETWORK.
IF YOU CAN GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE, MOLLY, HOW WE GET MOST OF THIS DATA IS THROUGH HEAT MAPS.
WHENEVER WE PUT IN A SYSTEM, WE HAVE A GUY PUT A BACKPACK ON OR PUSH A CART AROUND AND HE WALKS AROUND EVERY AREA OF EVERY BUILDING THEN HAS TO INPUT, UM, ALL THE DIFFERENT CHARACTERISTICS, WHETHER IT'S A BLOCK WALL, WHETHER IT'S A CONCRETE FIELD BLOCK, WALL METAL, LASHING, A METAL, UM, A WIRE ON THE WINDOWS, ALL OF THESE THINGS ARE VERY BAD FOR A WIRELESS SIGNAL.
AND WE USE THESE HEAT MAPS TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE NOT OVER-SATURATING AND THAT WE CAN MAINTAIN SMALLER AMOUNTS OF APS AND OFFICE AREAS WHERE YOU DON'T HAVE THE HIGHER CONCENTRATION OF USERS.
AND YOU CAN USE SOME OF THAT OVERLAP FROM YOUR OTHER CLASSROOMS TO SUPPORT THAT NEED.
THE MAIN REASON WE DO THAT IS BECAUSE EVERY TIME YOU ADD AN AP INTO A ROOM, YOU HAVE A ROUGH COST BETWEEN WIRING AND THE COST OF THE AP OF AROUND $2,000.
IT DOESN'T SOUND LIKE A LOT, BUT WHEN YOU ADD TWO OR THREE PER SCHOOL, TIMES 30 SCHOOLS, YOU JUST SPENT ABOUT $80,000 AND IT ADDS UP VERY QUICKLY.
UM, OUR NEXT ONE IS BASICALLY OUR TYPICAL CLASSROOM DESIGN.
EVERY CLASSROOM IS OUTFITTED WITH OUR BOX LIGHT INTERACTIVE BOARD.
UM, EVERY CLASSROOM HAS, UM, OUR STANDARD IN ROOM SOUND, WHICH IS PROVIDED BY AUDIO ENHANCEMENT.
UM, THIS IS OUR SOUND REINFORCEMENT.
IT CONNECTS TO THE FOUR SPEAKERS IN THE CEILING AND THE PENDANT MICROPHONE.
THE TEACHER WEARS ANOTHER INTERESTING THING ABOUT OUR AUDIO ENHANCEMENT SOUND ENFORCEMENT IS IT HAS THE ABILITY TO BLUETOOTH, TO, UH, HEARING IMPAIRED STUDENTS WITH COCHLEAR IMPLANTS.
UM, AND WE ALSO HAVE, UM, I WOULD LIKE TO PUT A SIDE NOTE IN HERE THAT FOR ONE OF OUR MEETINGS, I WOULD REALLY LIKE TO HAVE DR.
WHITE WITH OUR SPED DEPARTMENT COME IN AND REALLY TALK ABOUT SOME OF THE INTERESTING STUFF
[01:05:01]
WE DO.I MEAN, UH, THE FIRST THING I THINK OF IS OUR MILO ROBOTS THAT WE USE FOR OUR AUTISM STUDENTS.
IT'S AMAZING IF YOU ACTUALLY SEE THESE KIDS INTERACT WITH THIS DEVICE AND THEY ARE VERY AGITATED AT FIRST AND AS THEY INTERACT WITH THE KID, IT JUST TOTALLY CALMS THEM DOWN AND HELPS THEM GET INTO THAT LOANING, A LEARNING MODALITY.
UM, ALSO, UH, SO THAT'S SOMETHING I'D LIKE TO DO CAUSE THAT'S A SEPARATE TOPIC.
AND I WOULD REALLY LIKE, UM, FOR OUR EDUCATIONAL SIDE TO BE IN TO HELP, UH, RUN THAT, THAT DISCUSSION BECAUSE THEY CAN GET INTO THE NITTY-GRITTY OF THAT A LITTLE BIT BETTER THAN I CAN.
UM, LET'S SEE ALSO, UM, WHERE ARE WE AT? HERE WE GO.
UH, WE ALSO HAVE OUR CLOCK AND PAGING SYSTEMS WITH OUR PANIC BUTTONS ON OUR WALLS.
UM, AND ALL OF THESE ARE STANDARD LAYOUTS AT THE END OF OUR REFERENDUM.
THESE WILL BE EVERY CLASSROOM IS THE SAME.
UM, THIS IS OUR TYPICAL SCHOOL PAGING SYSTEM.
UM, ONE OF THE COOL THINGS ABOUT OUR NEW EPIC SYSTEM IS THE FUNCTIONALITY OF IT.
UM, THE AMOUNT OF ZONES IT GIVES BEING AN IP BASED SYSTEM, UM, BEING ABLE TO TALK TO JUST A CLASSROOM OR A GROUPING OF CLASSROOMS, A WING OF A SCHOOL OR THE ENTIRE SCHOOL.
ANOTHER THING IT ALLOWS FOR IS, UM, UH, MUSIC IN THE HALLWAYS.
UH, ONE OF THE DRIVING, UH, POINTS FROM A LOT OF OUR EDUCATORS IS THAT MAINTAINING MUSIC IN THE HALLWAYS KEEPS KIDS ON A MORE EVEN NOTE, A MORE PEACEFUL NOTE.
UM, THERE'S BEEN A LOT OF RESEARCH INTO THAT.
I CAN'T SAY EITHER WAY, BUT I TRUST EXPERTS AND, UM, OUR EDUCATORS AND ADMINISTRATORS WHO HAVE IMPLEMENTED THESE SYSTEMS IN THEIR SCHOOLS SEEM TO SEE A DECREASE IN THE DISCIPLINARY ACTIONS.
UM, IT'S A VERY, UH, INTRIGUING SYSTEM, UM, A LOT MORE BELLS AND WHISTLES WITH OUR STROBES AND ARROWS AND LIGHTINGS AND DIGITAL CLOCKS.
UM, AND JUST BASICALLY TAKING US FROM AN ANALOG ERROR INTO, UM, OUR IP DIGITAL ERA.
BUT ONCE AGAIN, UM, THIS IS A TYPICAL DESIGN AND IT IS GOING TO LOOK THE SAME IN EVERY SCHOOL.
THE PAGING SYSTEM TIES INTO THE IN-ROOM SOUND, AUDIO ENHANCEMENT OF EVERY CLASSROOM, SO THAT THERE IS A BEEP THAT COMES OVER TO LET THE TEACHER KNOW THAT SOMEBODY IS FIXING TO BE COMMUNICATING AND LISTENING IN, AND ALSO, UM, INTEGRATES DIRECTLY WITH THE IN-ROOM SPEAKERS TO BE ABLE TO HAVE BETTER SOUND ENHANCEMENT IN THE ROOM FOR OUR ANNOUNCEMENTS IN DIFFERENT THINGS FOR OUR SCHOOL SITES.
OUR REFRESH CYCLE FOR ONE-TO-ONE.
UM, WE BASICALLY LAID OUT, UM, OUR DIFFERENT GRADE LEVELS, THE DEVICE THEY USE THE LIFE CYCLE REFRESH THEY'RE ON AND THE LAST TIME THEY WERE REFRESHED.
UM, AND NOW WE TALK ABOUT SOME OTHER DEVICES, OUR TEACHER DEVICES, STAFF DEVICES, DEPARTMENT DEVICES, OUR PHONE SYSTEMS LABS AND DIFFERENT SERVERS, SWITCHES AND WIRELESS THROUGHOUT THE DISTRICT.
AND NOW WE TALK A LITTLE ABOUT, ABOUT OUR CURRENT AGE OF DEVICES RIGHT NOW.
OUR CURRENT STAFF AGE IS 1.6 YEARS.
UM, OUR AVERAGE STUDENT AGE OF DEVICE RIGHT NOW IS 1.4 YEARS.
THE REASON WHY THEY ARE SO LOW IS BECAUSE ONE IS THAT WE'VE ADDED A LOT OF DEVICES.
WE PREVIOUSLY DID NOT HAVE OUR PRE-K DEVICES, WHICH ENDS UP BEING ABOUT 1100 DEVICES ACROSS OUR CREE K KIDS.
AND WE ALSO WENT THROUGH, UM, A SKIP AND FUNDING YEARS WHERE WE HAD A MASSIVE REFRESH ALL AT ONCE.
SO THAT REALLY HURTS OUR, UM, OVERALL YEAR OVER YEAR PLANNING FOR LIFE CYCLE.
WHENEVER WE MISS A FUNDING CYCLE, THE MAIN, THE MEDIAN AGE OF RIGHT NOW FOR A TEACHER DEVICE IS 1.2 YEARS SINCE THEY WERE REFRESHED AT THE BEGINNING OF THE PREVIOUS SCHOOL YEAR.
[01:10:01]
NOW WE PROVIDED, UM, OUR BASE FIVE YEARS, OUR PREVIOUS FIVE YEARS AND OUR, UH, PROJECTED FUTURE FIVE-YEAR SPINNED.OH, I'M JUST GOING TO GO WITH MY, COULDN'T GET MY BUTTON TO WORK.
WHAT ARE THE TABS AT THE BOTTOM? IS THAT JUST A MIDDLE YEAH, K ONES.
THAT WAS THE, UH, STUDENT GRADE LEVEL REFRESH THAT HAPPENED DURING THAT YEAR.
WE JUST WANTED TO MAKE IT EASIER TO DIFFERENTIATE.
WOULD THAT FALL UNDER SCHOOL TECHNOLOGY REFRESH ROW? IS THAT WHAT? OKAY, THANK YOU.
AND YOU'LL SEE A SIMILAR AND OUR INTERACTIVE DISPLAY.
UM, OUR INTERACTIVE DISPLAYS LAST ABOUT EIGHT YEARS.
SO YOU SEE, WE DO A TWO YEAR FUNDING CYCLE.
WE DID 19 AND 20, AND THEN THAT WILL RECUR AGAIN IN 2028 OR 20 27, 20 28, WHICH IS ACTUALLY THE 20, 27 YEAR.
SORRY, THERE'S A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN OUR SCHOOL YEARS AND OUR E RATE HERE.
UM, OUR LAST CATEGORY IS OUR BANDWIDTH CATEGORY.
UM, WE TALKED ABOUT OUR 5.5 GIGS TO THE INTERNET OR 10 GIGS ON OUR METRO E UM, ANOTHER THING I WANTED TO TALK ABOUT IS OUR SCHOOL WIRELESS.
WE CURRENTLY ON 8 0 2 DOT 11 AC, WHICH IS TECHNICALLY SINCE WIFI SIX JUST CAME OUT.
WE'RE A STEP BEHIND, BUT WE'RE RIGHT WHERE WE NEED TO BE.
THERE'S NO REASON FOR US TO, TO GO OUT AND PAY THE EXTRA COSTS FOR THE WIFI SIX APS, CONSIDERING THE DEVICES WE HAVE DON'T SUPPORT WIFI SIX YET THE COMMERCIAL IMPLEMENT, UM, IMPLEMENTATION OF THE WIFI SIX, UM, CONNECTION, UH, MODULES WILL PROBABLY START HITTING MAINSTREAM VERY HARD IN OUR 20 ANY SOMETIME IN 20, 22 SCHOOL YEAR.
SO WE CAN LOOK AT A WIFI SIX AND OUR NEXT WIRELESS UPGRADE, WHICH IS COMING UP.
AND I WANT TO SAY 20, 24, I DON'T SEE THAT SCREEN RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME.
UM, AND LIKE I SAID, ONCE AGAIN, WE NEVER LIKED TO BE ON THE BLEEDING EDGE OF THE SWORD.
WE ALWAYS LIKE TO BE JUST A LITTLE BEHIND TO MAKE SURE EVERYTHING'S STABLE.
UM, AND THIS IS A LITTLE BIT ABOUT OUR INTERNET BANDWIDTH.
ACCORDING TO OUR STATE, THEY RECOMMEND 100 MEGS PER THOUSAND STUDENTS, UM, WHICH EQUALS 2.2 GIGS, BUT THE WAY THEY ALLOCATE BANDWIDTH, WE WOULD STILL GET 2.5 BECAUSE THEY ROUND UP TO THE HALF GIG.
AND WE CURRENTLY AS A DISTRICT PROVAC TO, WE PROVIDE 250 MEGABYTES PER THOUSAND KIDS TO EQUAL OUR 5.5.
UM, WE'VE BEEN MONITORING THAT BANDWIDTH AND EVEN DURING COVID AND OUR EXTREME ZOOMING AND EVERYTHING, WE HAVE STILL NOT REALLY HIT THAT THRESHOLD.
SO WE'RE NOT LOOKING AT ANOTHER ONE GIG JUMP YET.
IT MAY BE SOMETHING WE LOOK AT, UM, NEXT YEAR WITH WE, WHEN WE IMPLEMENT THE, UM, DUAL IN GRASS FOR, UH, INTERNET CONNECTION.
AND IT WOULD BE THE PERFECT TIME TO DO IT AT THAT TIME, BUT WE WILL LOOK AT THE DATA AND SEE WHERE WE ARE IN SIX, EIGHT MONTHS TO WHAT WE NEED TO DO.
WE'RE GOING TO LET YOUR INHALE A LITTLE BIT.
OUR COPIERS UNDER YOUR PURVIEW.
UM, THAT'S BEEN A BIG FOCUS OF THE SCHOOL DISTRICT.
UM, UH, OUR SCHOOLS LIKE HAVING INDIVIDUAL COPIERS IN EVERY CLASSROOM.
WELL, IN THE DIGITAL AGE WITH GOOGLE CLASSROOM, WE HAVE BEEN TRYING TO CUT BACK ON KILLING TREES.
UM, AND WE'VE BEEN PUTTING, UH, BASICALLY BIG MULTIFUNCTIONAL PRINTERS AND TEACHER WORK ROOMS. THE ONLY PEOPLE THAT WE ARE STILL PROVIDING A PHYSICAL, UH, PRINTING MACHINE TO, UH, WOULD BE KEY PERSONNEL ARE NURSES WHO HAVE TO PRINT SOME HIPAA DATA, UM, AND BOOK KEEPERS, DATA SPECIALISTS.
UM, THEY'RE WORKING WITH A LOT OF, UH, PII INFORMATION, PERSONAL IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION.
UM, BUT IT HAS BEEN A BIG FOCUS FOR US TO GET FAX MACHINES AND ALL THE EXTRA PRINTERS
[01:15:01]
OUT OF THE SCHOOL.WE BASICALLY WITH OUR, UM, OUR, OUR PRINTER CONTRACT, WE ALSO USE A SYSTEM CALLED, UM, PRINT MANAGER, UM, UH, PAPER, UH, PAPER CUT THAT ALLOWS US TO WALK UP TO A PRINTER AND SWIPE OUR DISTRICT RFID BADGE.
AND IT AUTOMATICALLY LOGS YOU IN AND KEEPS TABS ON WHAT YOU'RE PRINTING.
THIS IS VERY GOOD FOR OUR SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION, SO THEY CAN KIND OF MANAGE THEIR PRINTING BUDGETS.
WE HAVE SEEN A DRASTIC DECREASE IN THE LAST FIVE YEARS, AS WE'VE STANDARDIZED THESE MULTI FUNCTIONAL PRINTING SYSTEMS AND REMOVE FAX MACHINES.
WE DO THE MAJORITY OF OUR FAXES NOW USING A VIRTUAL FAX SERVER, AND WE PRINT DIRECTLY FAX DIRECTLY TO THE PERSON'S EMAIL.
AND WE FOUND OUT THAT THIS WORKS EVEN BETTER THAN A FAX MACHINE, ESPECIALLY FOR OUR PEOPLE WITH A LOT OF PERSONAL IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION.
I WOULD LIKE TO SEE IT BROKEN OUT ALL YOUR ONE-TO-ONE DEVICES AND SO ON.
I WOULD LIKE TO SEE A BREAKOUT OF YOUR PRINTERS AND YOUR MULTIFUNCTIONAL, UH, UH, COPIERS AND, UH, HOW IT'S MONITORED, WHERE THEY'RE LOCATED, JUST LIKE YOU'VE DONE WITH THE ONE-TO-ONE.
UH, AS I HAVE FOUND THAT, UH, ONE THERE'S SOME SECURITY ISSUES, UH, WITH THOSE THINGS THEY CAN BE, THEY CAN BE COMPROMISED, UH, AND COMPROMISE YOUR WHOLE SYSTEM.
AND THAT YOU'RE, YOU GOT THAT FIREWALLED OFF AND YOU, YOU, YOU YOU'RE AWARE OF THAT, THAT THREAT.
SO I LIKE TO GET SOME MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THAT AREA, UH, AS WE GO FORWARD, YOU'RE A HUNDRED PERCENT RIGHT ON THAT, MR. GUYER, UM, ONE OF THE BIGGEST, UM, UH, AREAS THAT PEN TESTERS LOOK FOR WHEN THEY COME INTO A VR ENVIRONMENT IS OLD PRINTERS BECAUSE OLD PRINTERS GET STUCK IN THE BACK OF OFFICES CLASSROOMS AND DO NOT GET THE FIRMWARE AND SECURITY UPDATES TO KEEP THEM RELEVANT.
AND ALSO A LOT OF YOUR PERSONNEL GO, HEY, I BOUGHT THIS PRINTER.
IT'S GOING TO BE WITH ME UNTIL IT DIES.
WELL, UNFORTUNATELY AFTER ABOUT FIVE TO SIX YEARS, THOSE SECURITY UPDATES STOPPED COMING FOR THAT HARDWARE.
AND WE HAVE TO DEEM IT UNFIT FOR NETWORK OPERATION.
THE OTHER QUESTION I HAVE, UH, IS A COMPUTER LAB USAGE.
I KNOW THEY USE IT DURING STATE TESTING, BUT TO ME, A COMPUTER LAB IS AN ANACHRONISM AND IT'S A WASTE OF SPACE.
SO I'D LIKE TO KNOW, UH, WHAT KIND OF, WHAT WE'RE USING COMPUTER LABS FOR EXACTLY PRECISELY AND HOW MUCH WE'RE USING THEM AND WHAT IS THE COST VALUE OF HAVING THAT SPACE AND THAT NUMBER OF MACHINES, UH, IN OUR SCHOOLS.
I THINK IT'S, UH, I THINK IT'S SOMETHING THAT NEEDS TO BE LOOKED AT.
SO THAT'S, UH, ANOTHER PIECE DOWN THE LINE.
I, BUT OVERALL, I WANT TO THANK YOU FOR THIS, UH, THIS PRESENTATION.
YOU'VE SCRATCHED A LOT OF MY ITCHES ABOUT TECHNOLOGY AND, UH, I AM, I'M IMPRESSED BY YOUR THINKING YOUR STRATEGIC VIEW, UH, YOUR, UM, SURVIVE ABILITY FOR OUR SYSTEM.
UH, SO I'M, I'M VERY IMPRESSED.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR THIS BRIEFING.
UM, YEAH, I, I HAVE A COMMENT TOO.
I NOTICED THAT ON OUR WEBSITE, WE HAVE A SLIDER NOW THAT LINKS TO A TECHNOLOGY WEB PAGE OR WEBSITE, A SEPARATE SITE, UM, THAT HAS TRAINING VIDEOS AND TUTORIALS IN BOTH ENGLISH AND SPANISH.
UM, AND IT LOOKS LIKE SOMETHING THAT'S, YOU KNOW, SORT OF IN THE EARLY STAGES THAT HAS A LOT OF ROOM TO RUN.
CAUSE I HAVE A NINTH GRADER WHO JUST GOT HANDED A BUNCH OF, UM, ED TECH AND NOT A LOT OF, UH, SUPPORT, YOU KNOW, TRYING TO FIGURE IT OUT ON HIS OWN.
SO, AND I'M A TECH PERSON AND I WAS STRUGGLING WITH SOME OF IT.
SO I THINK HAVING THAT FOR THE AVERAGE PARENT IN BOTH LANGUAGES IS HUGELY HELPFUL.
LOOKING AT THIS PRESENTATION FROM THE IDEA OF EQUITY AND TECHNOLOGY.
I THINK IT'S VERY IMPORTANT THAT WE GO BACK TO MR. CAMPBELL'S POINT ABOUT EXPANDING BROADBAND.
I THINK THAT IS SOMETHING WE'VE KIND OF TALKED ABOUT PERIPHERALLY, BUT IT'S BEING DONE ELSEWHERE WITH OUR FUND ESSER FUNDING FUNDING.
THERE'S THE EDUCATION SUPER HIGHWAY.ORG THAT LAYS OUT EXACTLY HOW TO DO IT.
SO GIVEN THE FACT THAT WHALE BRANCH, WHICH ACCORDING TO SOUTH CAROLINA INTERNET MAPPING
[01:20:01]
IS ONE OF THE MOST UNDERSERVED AREAS IN OUR DISTRICT.UM, DO WE KNOW, UH, AT THIS MOMENT, AS WE'RE SENDING EVERYONE HOME WITH DEVICES WHO HAS ACCESS TO AT LEAST 25 MEGABITS OF BROADBAND AND WHO DOESN'T WITH A HUNDRED PERCENT ACCURACY, I COULD NOT ANSWER THAT.
WE DO ASK THE QUESTIONS, UM, AS THE PARENTS FILL OUT THE REGISTRATION PORTION.
UM, BUT A LOT OF TIMES OUR FAMILIES DON'T KNOW WE PUT SOME OF THE ONUS ON OUR SOCIAL WORKERS TO WORK WITH ARE MOST AT NEED FAMILIES, IDENTIFY THEM AND HELP TO GET THEM IN THE PIPELINE FOR WHAT KIND OF INTERNET THEY HAVE ON, IF THEY DON'T HAVE ADEQUATE AT HOME TO GET THEM SIGNED UP WITH THE FORMS TO, UM, GET A MI-FI TO TAKE HOME.
UM, WE, WE FOUND LAST YEAR THAT WE, UH, WE HAD A LOT OF ISSUES, UM, THIS, ESPECIALLY IN WELL BRANCH ST HELENA AREA, THAT EVEN IF WE PROVIDED A MI-FI, YOU KNOW, IF THE FAMILY HAD TWO TO THREE KIDS, SOMETIMES WE WERE HAVING TO GIVE THEM TO MY FIVE, JUST BECAUSE OF THE SIMPLE FACT THAT IT, IT WAS SO FAR AWAY FROM THE CLOSEST TOWER THAT THE BANDWIDTH THAT IT WAS GETTING WAS ABOUT A THIRD TO A QUARTER OF WHAT IT, BECAUSE THERE'S A CELLULAR DATA PROBLEM.
I DON'T, I'M NOT A BIG FAN OF THE
WHAT, UM, A LOT OF SCHOOL DISTRICTS ARE DOING IS I THINK WE HAVE THREE PROVIDERS OF INTERNET SERVICE, HARGRAVE, COMCAST.
AND IS IT SPECTRUM OR CHARTER? I FORGET WHICH THEY'RE CALLING IT DOWN AND CENTRALLY LINK.
SO ALL OF THESE PROGRAMS, APPARENTLY WE CAN DO IS WE CAN GIVE THEM A LIST OF ADDRESSES FROM THE SCHOOLS AND THEY WILL TELL US IF THOSE, IF THOSE ADDRESSES HAVE SERVICE AND WHAT LEVEL OF SERVICE, THAT'S NOT ANY KIND OF PRIVACY VIOLATION APPARENTLY.
SO I THINK THAT TAKES A LOT OF PRESSURE OFF SCHOOL PERSONNEL.
AND NOT ONLY WILL WE FIND OUT WHO ACTUALLY HAS SERVICED, BUT DO THEY HAVE THE SERVICE THAT NEEDS LIKE DECENT? LIKE THEY, WHAT ELSE? OH, OKAY.
UM, ALSO MY HAND JUST AUTOMATICALLY RAISED DAVID.
I DON'T KNOW WHY IT GAVE ME A TIMER.
IT SAYS YOUR HAND WILL RAISE IN THREE SECONDS.
UM, SO I THINK WE NEED TO GET JIGGY ON THAT SOONER RATHER THAN LATER.
AND I KNOW FROM THIS PRESENTATION, AS, AS COLONEL GARNER WAS SAYING, IT'S VERY IMPRESSIVE ON THE TECHNICAL ASPECTS AND, YOU KNOW, THE NETWORK WE HAVE, AND I THINK YOU'RE MAKING GOOD STRATEGY AND THE REFRESH CYCLE, BUT THERE'S THIS WHOLE OTHER PIECE OF HOW IT'S BEING USED THAT I THINK RIGHT NOW HAS BEEN UNDERSERVED BECAUSE IT'S KIND OF IN THIS WEIRD SPACE BETWEEN STUDENT SERVICES AND ISD AND TECHNOLOGY.
BUT TO ME, I DON'T SEE AS MUCH STRATEGY ABOUT HOW WE'RE USING IT AND WE'RE ADDING SO MUCH RIGHT NOW.
SO IF YOU LOOK AT THAT FINANCIAL PIECE, A LOT OF THOSE ONE-TO-ONE DEVICES WERE BOUGHT BY DONATION OR WITH SR FUNDING, BUT WE DON'T HAVE THAT FOR THE NEXT REFRESH CYCLE.
SO I THINK THAT WHILE THIS REALLY GAVE ME A LOT OF INFORMATION, IT ALSO, SORRY, THERE'S LIKE LANDSCAPING GOING ON.
UM, IT ALSO REALLY RAISED SOME CONCERNS ABOUT, DO WE HAVE A STRATEGY OF WHERE WE'RE GOING TO BE ACUTELY WITH SCHOOLS GOING VIRTUAL? AND DO WE HAVE A STRATEGY ABOUT WHERE WE'RE GOING TO BE WITH ALL THIS TECHNOLOGY WE'RE ADDING, UM, AND OUR FINANCIAL CONSTRAINTS.
SO I THINK THAT MY QUESTION WOULD BE ONE, I THINK WE NEED TO GET REALLY GET AGGRESSIVE ON MAKING SURE THAT KIDS HAVE BROADBAND ACCESS.
THERE'S ALSO A THING CALLED SPONSORED SERVICE, WHICH IS SIMILAR TO WHAT I BROUGHT UP WITH MENTAL HEALTH, WHERE I THINK THE DISTRICT DURING THIS TIME OF CRISIS CAN LOOK AT SOME FUNDING OPTIONS.
WE HAVE TO PAY THE BILLS FOR PEOPLE, YOU KNOW, ON THAT WEBSITE THAT IS ON OUR MAIN WEBSITE.
NOW, UH, IT DOES HAVE A LINK TO HEART RATE AND I, I FORGET COMCAST MAYBE ABOUT 10 BUCKS A MONTH FOR 25 MEGABIT.
WE USUALLY REACH OUT TO OUR PROVIDERS, UH, AT THE BEGINNING OF BEFORE EACH SCHOOL YEAR TO SEE WHAT KIND OF DEALS THEY'RE OFFERING AND HARD GRAY WAS, UM, VERY KIND AT THE BEGINNING OF THE PANDEMIC TO BASICALLY GIVE A COUPLE OF MONTHS FREE SERVICE TO OUR STUDENTS.
I MEAN, NOT EVEN CHARGING THEM THE $9 YEAH.
OR, YOU KNOW, DOES, DOES IT, CAN THE DISTRICT, BECAUSE IF WE'RE TELLING STUDENTS YOU'RE GOING VIRTUAL, WE HAVE AN OBLIGATION.
WHAT, WHAT, REGARDLESS OF THE PARENT'S FINANCIAL CIRCUMSTANCES TO MAKE SURE THEY CAN ACCESS THE INTERNET IN MY OPINION.
SO I THINK THOSE ARE THINGS WE NEED TO LOOK AT.
AND THEN, UM, I DO THINK THAT WHEN YOU HAVE THAT HEAT MAP OF WHALE BRANCH MIDDLE, I THINK THAT'S AWESOME BECAUSE IT MEANS WE'RE AUDITING WHAT'S ACTUALLY HAPPENING IN THE SCHOOLS, BUT THAT'S NOT WHEN SCHOOLS ARE IN SESSION, RIGHT.
THAT'S NOT HOW THAT IS BEING USED AND WHERE THE DATA IS BEING
[01:25:01]
CONSTRAINED.AND AGAIN, I GO BACK TO THIS IDEA.
I, I'M VERY CONCERNED THAT WE HAVE THE SAME AMOUNT OF CAPACITY AT EVERY SCHOOL WHERE THE NEEDS OF EACH INDIVIDUAL SCHOOL ARE SO DRAMATICALLY DIFFERENT.
UM, I THINK I WOULD LIKE TO SEE OVER TIME HOW THAT DATA CAPACITY IS BEING USED AT INDIVIDUAL SCHOOLS AND MAKING SURE.
AND WHEN IT GOES TO EQUITY THAT EVERY SCHOOL HAS WHAT THEY NEED, UM, FOR CAPACITY, WE CAN DO THAT, RIGHT? YES.
UM, I JUST WANT TO ECHO WHAT EVERYBODY'S SAID, MARK, THAT WAS COMPREHENSIVE.
UM, A LOT OF RESPECT FOR ALL THE AREAS YOU HAVE COVERED.
YOU SEEM TO BE ON TOP OF MOST OF THE THINGS THAT I WAS WORRIED ABOUT.
UM, AND I HAVE MANY YEARS OF DEALING WITH TECHNICIANS.
SO WHEN I TELL YOU YOU'RE GOOD, IT'S NOT IDLE.
UM, JUST GO OVER JUST TO KIND OF WRAP UP AND, AND I HAVE FIVE THINGS WRITTEN DOWN FOR FUTURE TOPICS, UM, TECHNOLOGY FOR SPED.
I THINK THAT'S PRETTY IMPORTANT.
I THINK EVERYBODY WOULD BE INTERESTED IN THAT, UM, UH, COORDINATION WITH THE COUNTY ON BROADBAND AND FUNDING.
AND I, I KNOW THAT YOU AND TANYA ALREADY ARE AWARE OF THAT AND YOU WANT TO HAVE THAT ON A, ON A FUTURE OF COMPUTER LABS.
THAT'S A ANOTHER TOPIC WE WANT TO PUT TO BED.
UM, I THINK ALSO ONE OF THE THINGS WE'RE PROBABLY GONNA HAVE TO FOCUS ON IS, IS THE DIVIDING LINE, THE SPECIFIC DIVIDING LINE BETWEEN TECHNOLOGY AND I S UM, BECAUSE YOU'VE GOT ALL THE PIPES OPEN AND YOU'VE GOT EVERYTHING THERE, BUT THERE'S THE CONTENT PIECE.
UH, AND, AND I KNOW FROM MY EXPERIENCE IN THE FIELD, THAT'S ALWAYS A TOUCHY AREA, UM, AND WHERE THAT LINE IS AND WHO DOESN'T WANT SOMEONE ELSE PUTTING THEIR HANDS IN THERE AND THEIR STEW, SO TO SPEAK.
UM, SO I, I THINK THAT IS PROBABLY A, UH, AN AREA OF FOCUS FOR US IN THE FUTURE.
AND AT SOME POINT WE'RE GOING TO HAVE TO FOCUS ON JUST EQUITY.
ABSOLUTELY EXCELLENT OVERVIEW.
UM, BUT THE QUESTION STILL REMAINS.
DO WE HAVE EQUITY? UM, AND I, I GUESS THAT'S A NATURAL OUTGROWTH OF THE BROADBAND.
UM, AND, UH, AS INGRID MENTIONED, A COUPLE OF TIMES THAT, YOU KNOW, THE END USER AVAILABILITY, NOT, NOT THE NETWORK AVAILABILITY AND EVERYBODY, BUT THE ACTUAL END USER, HOW IT LOOKS TO THE END USER.
UM, SO THOSE ARE THE FIVE THINGS THAT I HAD DOWN FOR FUTURE TOPICS.
AND, UM, IF THERE ARE MORE, WE CAN ALWAYS SEND EMAILS WHEN WE SET UP OUR FUTURE AGENDAS, BUT I HAVE THOSE EARL.
UM, HOW IS THIS GOING TO SAY THIS IS THAT CENTRALLY, UM, COVERED MOST OF EVERYTHING, THE WHALE BRANCH RIVER AND, UH, IN THE PAST DOCTOR.
AND IT SEEMED LIKE THEY DON'T WANT IT TO COME ON BULLETS.
SO MY SUGGESTION MAYBE IS THAT THE COUNTY COUNCIL BY THE COUNTY AND THE SCHOOL DISTRICT SIT WITH THE, BOTH OF THESE HARGRAVE AND CENTRALLY AND COME UP WITH A PLAN TO HELP HELP OUT.
BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, ONCE YOU CROSSED THE BORDER REAL QUICK, I MEAN, THE WHALE BRANCH, EVERYTHING IS DEAD.
UM, AS, UH, SOME YEARS AGO, SOMEONE WANTED TO PUT A TOWER OUT BY REAL BANKS CAUSE HASSLE AND PEOPLE START COMPLAINING ABOUT TOWERS ALL OVER THE COUNTY AND THIS AND FOLKS DON'T LIVE IN THIS AREA.
THIS IS A FOLK SET UP, CLOCK COMES PAIN.
YOU KNOW, THAT WAS JUST SOME OF THE THINGS THAT I THINK WE NEED TO DO.
AND THAT'S ALWAYS TRICKY BECAUSE YOU'RE DEALING WITH FOR-PROFIT COMPANIES, UM, AND YOU'RE TRYING TO CONVINCE THEM TO DO SOMETHING THAT'S GOOD FOR THE COMMUNITY.
UM, BUT THEY HAVE SHAREHOLDERS.
AND I WILL SAY AFTER OUR MEETING
[01:30:01]
WITH, UH, THE COUNTY ADMINISTRATORS AND THE, UH, THEIR BROADBAND PARTNER THAT, UH, I, I THINK THEY'RE GOING TO BRING, UM, SOME AREAS OF GROWTH THAT WERE UNEXPECTED, UM, TO THE, TO THE COUNTY.AND I THINK YOU'LL BE VERY INTERESTED TO HEAR THEM CAUSE IT'S SOME CUTTING EDGE THINKING.
WELL, YOU KNOW, I THINK THAT'S GOING TO BE ONE OF THE, ONE OF THE HIGH PRIORITY TOPICS FUTURE.
WE'RE GOING TO PROBABLY SCHEDULE THAT FOR OUR NEXT MEETING, BECAUSE I THINK THERE'S SOME URGENCY TO THAT.
UM, DOES ANYONE HAVE ANYTHING ELSE THAT, UH, OKAY, GREAT AGAIN, THANK YOU MARK A HOUR AND A HALF OF TALKING.
I ADMIRE THAT, THAT YOU COULD DO THAT EVEN MORE THAN TALKING FOR AN HOUR AND A HALF.
YOUR ENTHUSIASM AT THE END WAS THE SAME AS THE ENTHUSIASM IN THE BEGINNING.
SO THAT'S QUITE A TESTAMENT THERE.
UH, I THINK THE ONLY AGENDA ITEM LEFT IS THE TOURNAMENT.
OH, WE SHOULD, WE WERE REGULARLY SCHEDULED I BELIEVE FOR THIS TIME, BUT I'M NOT SURE I'LL HAVE ROBIN SEND SOMETHING OUT AND COORDINATE THE NEXT MEETING.
UM, AND I ACTUALLY, I WOULDN'T, I WOULD LIKE TO NOT WAIT FOR A MONTH, UM, BECAUSE I REALLY DO WANT TO HEAR ABOUT THIS COUNTY, UM, INTERACTION.
SO IF WE CAN, WE CAN PULL THAT BACK IN FROM A MONTH THEN I'LL HAVE ROBIN TRY TO DO THAT IF THAT'S OKAY WITH Y'ALL.
UM, THE COUNTY, UH, AFTER OUR MEETING YESTERDAY, UH, INDICATED THAT THEY HAD NOT BRIEFED THE COUNTY OFFICIALS HAD NOT BRIEFED COUNTY COUNCIL ON THE MATTER YET.
SO THEY WANTED TO MAKE SURE THEY, UH, DID BRIEF COUNTY COUNCIL.
AND THEN I'VE ASKED THAT THEY ENSURE A APPROVAL IS OF COURSE THAT THEY COME AND SPEAK WITH YOU.
UM, THE COUNTY OFFICIALS DIRECTLY OF THEIR PROPOSAL, UM, FOR HOW WE CAN MOVE FORWARD.
I AGREE THAT YOU PROBABLY DON'T WANT TO WAIT A MONTH FOR THAT.
UM, BUT I DO WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT WE FOLLOW THEIR UPDATE TO THEIR OWN COUNCIL FIRST.
SO, UM, IF I WILL FOLLOW UP WITH, UH, JARED FREELUX, UH, THE ASSISTANT COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR OF THE COUNTY, UM, AND SEEING WHEN HE PLANS TO DO THAT, AND THEN WE CAN HAVE SOMETHING PERHAPS SHORTLY AFTER THAT.
SO THAT WOULD BE ONE OF THE ONE MAIN AREAS OF, UM, UH, THAT WOULD BE THE PRIMARY TOPIC THAT WE WOULD BRING TO THE NEXT MEETING.
AND IT ALSO HAPPENS TO BE AN OIC 17 POINT 11.
SO, UH, KIND OF KILL TWO BIRDS WITH ONE STONE THERE.
WE'RE GOING TO HAVE TO THINK OF A BETTER EXPRESSION THAN THAT.
IF THERE'S NOTHING ELSE, I THINK WE CAN.