Cape school board approves networking upgrade

Cape Girardeau School Board members on Monday approved moving forward on several information technology items whose costs could be substantially reduced through a federal financial mechanism.

The lower costs will depend on the district's being approved for E-rate funding, which is derived from taxes placed on landline and wireless phones, district technology coordinator Brian Hall said. Those funds are used to offset schools' expenses for phones, Internet and networking placed on phones, Hall added.

E-rate ultimately falls under the Federal Communications Commission.

Bids were approved for a wide-area network to connect all the district's buildings, network switches for the Alternative Education Center and Blanchard, Franklin and Jefferson elementary schools, and voice-over Internet Protocol lines for the automated call dialer system.

Under the program, switches for the Alternative Education Center, Blanchard, Franklin and Jefferson elementary schools, for example, would have cost about $90,000 through the CDW-G corporation, according to Hall and backup material on the district's website.

With E-rate, assistant superintendent of support services Neil Glass said, the district would pay 10 cents on every dollar.

With E-rate, the wide-area network through Charter Communications would cost $2,347 a month, and the voice-over IP, from Shoutpoint Inc., about $483 a month.

"That's why it's so advantageous, but for the process, we have to get it all approved prior to submitting for E-rate funding," Glass said.

Voice-over IP delivers telephone service through an Internet connection. Hall said it's used for the district's automated services to send alerts about school closings, texts, parent notifications for attendance and reminders.

Other business

• The board approved authorizing the superintendent to negotiate a contract with Stanley, Dirnberger, Hopper & Associates LLC auditors and to execute a contract on the board's behalf for the 2013-2014 school year with the option to renew for the second and third years, which would be through June 30, 2016, according to the website. Proposed audit fees for 2013-2014 and 2014-2015 would be $21,000, increasing to $22,000 for 2015-2016, the information said.

Stanley, Dirnberger, Hopper & Associates has been conducting audits for the district since the 2008-2009 school year, the material said.

• Superintendent Jim Welker said the district has used six snow days this year and that Feb. 14 and Monday were used as makeup days. Other makeup days will be April 17 and 21 and May 21 and 22. If additional days are missed, Welker said, May 23 will be used and then there will be two days the district can miss before going past Memorial Day.

Welker said he's glad everyone is back at school and that there's no ice to contend with.

rcampbell@semissourian.com

388-3639

Pertinent address:

301 N. Clark St., Cape Girardeau, Mo.