1999
Bond Election
The taxpayers of Plano ISD passed a bond election in February, 1999, approving
the issuance of $21.2 million in bonds for the equipment of school buildings
in
the district,
including
the
acquisition and installation of computers and other related technology and
networking equipment.
Three major technology needs were identified for the bond proposal,
including 1) upgrading computers (primarily in secondary
campuses) to be Year 2000 (Y2K)/Windows ‘95 compliant, 2) greatly
improving the district’s Wide Area Network (WAN), and 3) completing
the PBX telephone system to bring all schools into
the network configuration. The bond election passed
as follows.
| For |
3,542 (68.67%) |
| Against |
1,616 (31.33%) |
Bond Proposals
Year 2000/Windows '95 Compliance Issues
This portion of the overall
bond package includes replacing approximately 2,500
computers (primarily at the secondary school level) to bring them
up to Year
2000/Windows ‘95 compliance. Approximately 15,500 district computers
are already Y2K compliant, according to Mr. Hirsch. These funds will also
support an upgraded Energy Management system and others such as campus-based
automatic phone notification and facility systems.
Wide Area Network Upgrade
The wide-area network (WAN) upgrade will
affect all 64 district schools/facilities (including
five planned schools). The upgrade will greatly enhance the district’s
data network, provide for integrated voice and private video networks, and
improve reliability, functionality and quality of network services.The new “fiber
optic” network would provide for one improved cabling system to transfer
phone, video and computer data for the district’s more than 50,000
network users (which includes staff and students).
The PBX Telephone system
completion will bring the remaining 19 elementary campuses into the same
network phone configuration system as the other district campuses and
sites.These digital phone switches will greatly enhance
the communication at these
schools by providing full network capability and reliability,
improved communication
accessibility with increased numbers of lines per campus, and will
integrate the phone system into the proposed wide area
network configuration.
Q & A
1. What will the $21.2 million fund? The PISD Board
of Trustees has called this bond election to replace 2,500 computers
(out 18,000 total) which are
not Year 2000 (Y2K) or Windows 95 compliant; to expand the Wide Area Network
(WAN) by converting to fiber optic and thus enhance the ability of school computers
to communicate data and video; and to integrate and complete the voice network
capability by expanding the district’s telephone system to 19 (of 35)
unserved elementary schools. Each of the included items directly affects the
classroom and student learning as well as our teachers’ ability to communicate
with parents and colleagues.
2. What has the district done to ensure Year 2000 compliance? The Plano ISD
Year 2000 task force began meeting in spring, 1998. A written plan to address
Y2K issues was presented to the PISD Board of Trustees. Since that time, we
have completed hardware and software inventories, notified manufacturers to
request their Year 2000 compliance statements and updated our existing database
to show which hardware, software and other embedded systems needs replacement
and/or upgrading to be compliant. Installation and testing of necessary replacement
systems is scheduled for completion by fall '99.
3. Why does the district need an expanded wide area network? Compare the communication
needs of PISD to Plano’s trying to accommodate existing traffic on a
single two lane road instead of multiple six lane highways. This district is
one of the largest users of the Internet with more than 400,000 requests per
day - an increase from 150,000 a year ago and still growing as we continue
to add student computers to the wide area network. The major improvement with
a new network will be increased capacity (allowing data, voice and video traffic
to occur simultaneously) and quality of service (network outages should become
relatively rare and the network can continue to function in the event of problems).To
increase capacity on our current network would involve significant increases
in ongoing monthly expenditures for high speed phone lines.
4. What are the most important reasons for building a new network? First,
to ensure that PISD students have access to the most up-to-date information
and current software applications. Second, to give students the opportunity
to use more multimedia capability in their classrooms and with their projects,
whether they use the Internet or collaborative video techniques. Third, to
make student and professional use of the available technology more effective
and efficient and to bring voice network capability up to an equitable level
at all campuses.
5. How will this bond election affect the delivery of curriculum? These proposed
technology initiatives will make students and staff more efficient just as
similar initiatives do for the business world. Secondary students, in particular,
will benefit from access to updated software, including compatible versions
of software that many have access to at home. This is becoming a more important
issue as students are working on projects involving updated software applications
such as Office 97 at home and cannot use those files directly at school. More
curriculum resources will be available; students and teachers will be able
to use collaborative video techniques when appropriate; and network reliability
will increase to allow more network “uptime” for student access.
Additionally, students will have the opportunity to participate in distance
learning classes where students can remain at their home campus, yet participate
in courses offered at other sites in PISD or outside our district . Without
an upgrade to the wide area network, student access to multimedia components
of curriculum resources will be limited.
6. How are secondary curriculum needs being addressed? This bond addresses
two areas that have direct impact on the curriculum and instruction program
of the district. The replacement of 2,350 computers at the secondary level
alone will allow all student computers to run Windows 95 and therefore use
update software throughout the entire campus. Students will also have access
to their files from anywhere throughout the campus and can expect more reliable
performance from their computers. The expanded capacity and capability of the
network will allow students access to more information via networks and the
ability to use video conferencing techniques for collaborative projects.
7. Why is the video capability enhanced by a fiber optic network important
to the students? Video communication provides a far more powerful, realistic
tool for students and teachers interaction than phone conversation or Internet
mail . Video communication allows students in remote locations to collaborate
and interact with peers. For Plano ISD, “remote” can mean between
campuses. We could offer low enrollment courses to students at varying campuses
without having to transport them to remote sites; middle school classrooms
could partner on projects with their elementary school counterparts; we could
collaborate with schools in other districts as well as higher education and
business to offer more opportunities to our students. Better and more complete
information and interaction will result in better quality educational products.
8. How will this be an improvement over the current PISD data, communications
and video systems? Our current data network is comprised of high speed telephone
lines (T1 frame relay circuits) provided by GTE and Southwestern Bell. We have
no guaranteed speed of data transmission and no control of data traffic once
it leaves our local area networks. This compromises the quality of service
and hampers our ability to troubleshoot problems as they occur. In addition,
our current data network has only limited ability to function in the event
of problems. We have had problems on occasion where a single circuit going
down has completely shut down our network. Maintaining the current network
is costly in terms of personnel and lost time at work.This bond election would
also allow 19 elementary school sites currently outside the network to become
part of our telephone network and will allow us to put a phone in each classroom
for added safety, security and enhanced communications.Finally, we do not currently
have a two-way video network. We have TCI-provided cable services to only 49
of our 54 campuses with no method of broadcasting video to sites other than
the studio at Plano East Sr. High. This network would allow each site to communicate
using video techniques and resources.
9. What are the implications to the classroom if the bond fails? Secondary
students will not have access to updated software and Internet access in all
curriculum areas. As examples: Business Education students will not be able
to use updated versions of productivity software such as Office 97, nor have
Internet access. Additionally, middle school science and reading computers
will not have Internet access nor be able to run updated software necessary
for our total curriculum. The competitive edge our students have gained in
the elementary classrooms through the use of updated technology software applications
will not be fully continued in secondary schools. As we bring all student computers
onto the Wide Area Network (WAN) currently, the network capacity is not increasing,
so ability to access the Internet is limited (slower, no sound, no video).
This limitation negatively affects delivery of our own curriculum to the classrooms.
With an improved network, all classroom teachers will benefit from the ability
to access curriculum and resources from the Internet as well as our own networks.
Teachers find the most up-to-date materials on the Internet because publishers
update their materials frequently. All of these classroom opportunities will
slow down if we don’t upgrade our network and if the network capacity
stays the same, particularly as we grow.
10. How is Plano ISD helping teachers use technology to implement
the curriculum? One of the most critical issues facing PISD is professional development so
that all teachers can become more familiar with the available technology. This
issue is common to all large organizations using technology, both in business
as well as in education. The continuous staff development provided for all
of our teachers will mean more uniform usage of our technology resources in
all classrooms and content areas.
11. What will this bond election cost me? If you own a home valued at approximately
$165,000 (the average home cost in Plano ISD), passage of this bond election
will add no more than 1.5 cents to your tax bill, the equivalent of $22.56
a year at the high point; taxes on a $250,000 home will increase about $32.25;
and for a $100,000 home, taxes will increase about $12.75. Because of restructuring
of previous debt to take advantage of lower interest costs, the district has
been able to maintain a lower rate of debt service than had been projected
in the 1996 bond election.
12. How will this election be affected by the “Robin Hood” provisions
of the state school finance plan? Debt service dollars are NOT subject to “Robin
Hood,” so every cent raised here through this bond election will be spent
for Plano ISD students.
13. Over what period of time will the bond be paid off? We will pay off the
bonds for the new computers in five years, and the bonds sold to upgrade the
network will be paid off in ten years. This coincides with the life expectancy
of the computers and network equipment.
14. What will be the ramifications if we funded technology through
the maintenance and operations budget instead of the bond issue? We would be forced to use
a “piecemeal” approach to updating technology, adding a little
at a time over many years. This would make standardization very difficult and
would leave the district behind in meeting identified student needs. We would
see a retreat from the district’s and community’s shared vision
of ensuring that PISD students are on the leading edge of educational and technological
preparation for the future.
15. Isn’t replacement of technology going to be a continuous drain on
the district’s budget? Technology helps deliver the PISD curriculum and
prepare our students for a technological future. The district buys only that
level of technology which is necessary to deliver our curriculum effectively
and efficiently.Our technology resources need to be funded to allow replacements
and upgrades as necessary, typically five years for computer and local area
network equipment and ten years for video equipment and wide area network electronics.
Because of the “Robin Hood” law, our operating budget has not been
able to support this type of replacement fund.
16. Why is the district participating in the TIF (Tax Increment Financing
District) for the new parking lot for the new mall if there is a need for funding
for technology? While it may appear that the district is giving up funding
to participate in the TIF, in fact, under the current “Robin Hood” law,
PISD would realize no decreases in tax funds from the TIF. The agreement has
been structured to give the TIF only those funds which would be lost to recapture
(Robin Hood). Also, the district’s staff and students will actually benefit
because the city has committed to build a professional development center for
teacher and staff training, a much needed facility which the district is unable
to afford at this time. PISD has a long history of working cooperatively with
its sister governmental bodies, and it is the belief of the board that the
mall will generate sales tax revenue which will be very beneficial to the city
thereby benefiting the citizens of Plano.
17. Didn’t the voters approve a technology bond issue in 1996? Yes,
and every promise in that bond election has been kept. Additionally, the computers
purchased with those funds are Y2K compliant, and will not be replaced. Student
computers, teacher computers and work stations, and administrative applications
have been installed and are functioning. The project was completed ahead of
schedule and within budget. The 1999 bond election addresses Year 2000 compliance
and Windows 95 upgrades and provides an upgrade to the Wide Area Network, a
process which must be accomplished because of the increased use and demands
on the existing system. It is expected that the Network will meet projected
district needs for 10-15 years.
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