Indian Prairie School District 204’s annual technology budget of about $9.4 million falls behind the roughly $12 million the technology department projects it will need in each of the next several years to spend on servers, networks, data, classroom technology, and support.
But a move the school board made in the 2025-26 budget frees up $12.1 million from reserves to help keep pace. Tech administrators gave board members an overview during a meeting Monday night of where the transferred funds will be spent and how the money will help meet technology needs.
Why the IPSD tech budget needed a boost
For a few of the past five years, administrators were able to find capital funds to shift from other uses to technology, allowing the tech department to spend $12.1 million in 2021-22, $10.6 million in 2022-23, and $11.8 million in 2023-24.
But during last year’s budget, there wasn’t any extra money available, said Rodney Mack, chief technology officer. The same looks to be true for the next several years. Despite stagnant available funding, the need for tech spending to cover device replacements, network security upgrades, and updated interactive display screens for classrooms ranges from $11.6 million to $14.1 million during the next five years, Mack said.
“Moving that $12.1 million will help where these differences are that we wouldn’t be able to cover,” Mack said.
With the $12.1 million all infused into this year’s budget, the tech department can spend the money gradually to bridge the gaps and stay on track until 2029-30, Mack said.
“I’m glad that we are making up some of that in some of the money that we took out of the fund balance,” school board member Mark Rising said.
New display screens for classrooms
One of the most visible projects to be implemented using the transferred reserve money be replacement of display screens. The district plans to work during the next two years on installing displays with better touch-screen, audio, and streaming or screen-sharing features at all levels, from early childhood to high school — and even in small offices and collaborative workspaces.
Because of budget constraints in the past, “we’re off a year or two off from when we originally were going to start that,” Mack said about the display replacement process. But the fund transfer from reserves allows the replacements to begin occurring at a quicker pace.
Network access control system
“The last big tool we need” as a district is a system called network access control, Mack said. A network access control system would allow the district to make sure there are no unauthorized users or devices logged onto its internet networks, which keeps student and staff data more secure.
“We can see what’s on the network,” said William “BJ” Gray, director of technology security infrastructure. But without a network access control system, “we can’t automatically stop it.”
“This will put a hard stop” to any unknown internet traffic, Gray said, essentially telling unauthorized users, “we don’t know you. Get off our network.”
Google email and Securly Classroom
Administrators are in the process of switching staff email from Outlook to Google mail. About 75 staff members have volunteered to make the switch so far, Gray said, and staffers at three school buildings are ready to go “all-in” on Google email soon.
Tech staff will start the email transitions during Thanksgiving break, making the switch for one building before conducting any more full-building migrations. This work will continue using some of the $12.1 million fund transfer to technology.
The district also is in the early stages of implementing a new internet filter called Securly Classroom to replace the previous Lightspeed system. Securly Classroom is a monitoring tool for teachers to set limits on the websites their students can access and keep an eye on use of their school-issued Chromebooks.
Rolling out Securly Classroom at all levels — and also promoting use of the Securly Home system for parents — is another key part of the district’s technology priorities, also supported by the $12.1 million transfer.
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