Chief Technology Office Marie Bachman delivered an informative presentation to the school board regarding the district’s technology plan, as well as the completion of projects and recommendations Nov. 8.

Bachman said, “The main goal of the technology plan is to support the 4 C’s; critical thinking, collaboration, communication and creativity of our students and staff.” Secondly, the plan ensures continuity of instruction, community-facing operations, as well as general operations. The plan includes staying ahead of evolving cyber foes with improved security/protection as viruses continually change. The plan will also continually keep all stakeholders informed about this and future projects.

Bachman discussed recurring costs, such as maintaining support and maintenance contracts, licensing and hardware. She explained how priorities are assigned in each building, starting with what the educational impact is on a daily basis for each child, each day, every hour. Keeping track of the age of the device (Chromebook) and its stableness as a usable device is also very important. Chromebooks are replaced in fifth grade and again in ninth grade. In order to control purchasing costs the district buys a fleet of equipment, allowing for a lower price.

The district also has national cooperative purchasing agreements that provide better pricing of devices. Lastly, the district can benefit from E-rate reimbursement that provides discounts for telecommunications, internet access and internal connections. The BASD has 30,000 devices within all the district schools.

Later, Chief Facilities and Operations Officer Mark Stein described the district energy plan, which focuses on identifying energy savings opportunities. The energy year is July 1 to June 30 and the baseline year is 2008-09. Energy use of future years is compared to the baseline year and adjusted for weather abnormalities.

Twenty-three of the 25 BASD facilities are below the National energy use index (EUI). Savings are generated by using less electricity during “peak” times. The district is also utilizing solar energy. Nine percent of the total kWh consumed in 2020-21 for all BASD facilities was solar.

The Capitol Improvements Plan was also presented by Stein. The biggest capitol projects planned for this summer include the replacement of HVAC at Calypso ES, Freemansburg ES and Governor Wolf ES. These projects are in addition to the preservation and upkeep of all buildings.

The Public Comment portion of the agenda allowed several residents the opportunity to voice their concerns and opinions regarding the COVID winter sports masking policy, concerns regarding the district’s stand on critical race theory, concerns regarding vaccinating of school age children, concerns regarding the lack of a crossing guard in Fountain Hill and the prospect of offering a reasonable wage to attract candidates for that position

The curriculum presentation was given by Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum Dr. Jack Silva, who said the strategic objectives of the high school program of studies is to increase college and career readiness in all students. The goal is to double enrollment in the career pathway introductory classes, double enrollment in internships and AP computer science, and make the latter an elective in ninth grade. Finally, he means to introduce data science and artificial intelligence and eliminate redundant courses and those not aligned with BASD educational initiatives.