With just four months until the new school year — and the opening of Newberry Community School — the board met Monday evening to discuss a technology budget plan and Kindergarten Kick-Off.
Technology plan
Advised by Emerald Data Partners, a computer consultant company based in High Springs, the board navigated the cost of available technology — some of which will be transferred from Alachua County Public Schools.
ACPS will provide Newberry Community School about 900 electronic devices, including laptops, iPads and desktop computers. The district will also provide 75 cameras and phones.
The board plans to use the majority of the devices in classrooms, and some will be put into storage.
The technology ACPS provides will cost the Newberry Community School Board nothing, but the Newberry board will need to pay more than $64,500 upfront in July to purchase necessary licenses and upgrades. An additional monthly fee of just over $5,500 will go toward licensing and network purchases.
The monthly fees add up to roughly $67,000 a year — more than double the funds the board has allocated toward information technology each year.
The board currently has $140,000 set aside in its start-up budget to cover the first year of IT costs, but it only has $22,000 allocated for IT costs each subsequent year.
The board agreed to the technology proposal at Monday’s meeting with plans to consider alternative IT costs and options after the first year of operation.
Kindergarten Kick-Off
The board also considered enrollment rates ahead of its Kindergarten Kick-Off event May 6.
The districtwide event, which ACPS hosts yearly, is designed to welcome kindergarteners and their families to schools throughout the district, allowing them to meet teachers and staff.
Oak View Middle School, which will be converted to a pre-K through eighth-grade school by next school year, will host its event at 3:30 p.m.
Newberry Community School will host two separate events at 3 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. The events will be held at the Municipal Building on West Newberry Road.
The event will come just three months after enrollment for Newberry Community School opened. The school currently has 434 enrolled students with a maximum enrollment of 520 students. If the school reaches capacity, families will be put on a waiting list.
Contact Grace Larson at glarson@alligator.org. Follow her on X @graceellarson.
Grace Larson is a first-year journalism student, currently serving as K-12 education reporter. She has previously served as city/county commission reporter for The Alligator's metro desk. In her free time, she enjoys staying active and hanging out with her family.
