State of Tennessee

 

Department of Education

 

Technology Plan

Executive Summary

 

School System: Meigs County Schools

 

System Number: _________________

 

Five-Year Plan for School Years 2000-20001 through 2004-2005

 

 

Robert W. Greeene

Superintendent/Director of Schools:                _________________________

                                                                  Signature

 

G. David Brown

Technology Coordinator :                          _________________________

            Signature

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

School System: ­Meigs County Schools

 

A.     Planning

 

1.             Briefly describe the technology planning process utilized within your

school system.

 

            At the end of each school year, the technology committee, consisting of

            select school personnel and various professionals from outside the

            Meigs County School system, meets to review the current technology

status, known technology needs and overall technology goals of the school

system.  This information is used in the formulation of an updated five-

                        year plan.  The five-year plan is utilized as a benchmark and guide for

                        all technology related expenditures, projects and initiatives.

 

2.                  Name the individuals who assist in your system’s planning:

 

Name                                    Position

 

                        Robert W. Greene                   Superintendent of Schools

                        G. David Brown                Technology Coordinator

                        Ray A. Melton                         Asst. Superintendent of Schools

                        Timothy S. Wilkey                  Contract I.T. Professional

                        Karen Colbaugh                      Contract I.T. Technician

                        Joanne Ewing                           Technology Liaison

                        Tom Pride                            Technology Liaison

 

3.                  How will the planning process be continued?

 

Under the direction of the Superintendent of Schools, the technology

committee will be convened at regular intervals during the school

year and at the end of the school year to proceed with planning

updates in accordance with the process described in #1 above.

 

B.     Mission Statement.  Briefly discuss the mission for technology in your school

system.

 

The Meigs County School System strives to continually provide the latest

technological applications to our students. This will enable them to stay afloat in

this ever-changing technological world; thus insuring that all students will be

productive and knowledgeable in this fast pace society.

 

 

C.     Goals.  Please provide brief descriptions of specific system-wide goals which

may be met through the use of technology.

 

The Meigs County School system has enjoyed tremendous success over the past decade in the area of technology.  Despite the limitations of our demographics,

we have been able to provide:

 

·        Twelve (12) 21st Century classrooms

·        One (1) Internet capable PC w/ LAN based Internet in 92% of our

classrooms

·        Server-based Accelerated Reader

·        Server-based Horizon

·        Two (2) learning labs at Meigs Middle School

·        Two (2) instructional labs at Meigs County High School

 

This technology, conjunction with our instructional labs, has served us well.  It is our belief that our learning labs, Internet connectivity, and 21st Century classrooms, have greatly benefited our students and teachers.

 

Currently, we are building a web-site to be hosted from within our existing

LAN/WAN connectivity infrastructure.

 

The goals of our system which are dependent upon technology resources include—

 

·        Networking the final twelve (12) classrooms which do not have an active LAN connection

 

·        Constructing two (2) new learning labs (one at each of our elementary schools)

 

·        Expanding our technology related training efforts for teachers and students.

 

Our current long-term goal is to connect our four (4) school LANs to our central office LAN.  The resulting WAN will allow us greater efficiency in the input, retrieval, security, and use of important data. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
D.    Plan of Action.  Briefly discuss your school system’s plan to implement technology.

 

The Meigs County School system follows a standard approach to implementing technology.

 

technology into service.

 

     E.            Evaluation and Revision.            Discuss your plan for accessing technology

effectiveness and implementing recommended changes.

 

The Meigs County Schools Technology Committee is highly motivated to

choosing products, solutions and methods that yield a high ROI.  Given the

demands of an extremely limited budget, we are forced to find creative ways to

leverage our every dollar.  We have found that involving as many professionals as

possible in the initial research phase of any project, we can greatly enhance our

success.  Also, we setup strict, clearly quantifiable criterion by which we can

judge the merits of a particular project.

 

We are not afraid to abandon what doesn’t work and we have a knack for finding a way to hang-on to solutions that are effective, whatever their cost.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
F.   Budget Document. 

 

ACCOUNT NUMBER               EXPENDITURE                  AMOUNT

 

72210-196                                     Inservice Training                     2000.00

 

72210-308                                     Consultants                              1500.00

 

71100-429                                     Materials & Supplies                2500.00

 

71100-722                                     Reg. Inst. Equipment             45,000.00

 

71200-725                                     SE Equipment                                10,000.00

 

                                                TOTAL                                  $61,000.00

 

The Meigs County School System will obtain grants where possible to fund

computers and associated technology for classroom use. The LEA will make all

efforts to ensure that the latest technology is available. Requests will be written to

obtain “E-Rate funding for the wiring and upgrades to networks in each school.

 

 

G.      Technology Plan to be developed for subsequent years. Updated technology

plans are by April 15 of each year. The following areas should be included in your updated plan: (a) the type of equipment for administration and/or instruction which has been purchased within the last school year, (b) the type of equipment that will be purchased within the next school year, and (c) your anticipated requirements for staff training, instructional and/or administrative technology.

 

(a) During the 1999-2000 school year, Meigs County Schools revamped and upgraded its wire & cable infrastructure in the following areas to provide for

            a reliable server based network in support of Horizon (attendance software) and

            Accelerated Reader—

           

                        Meigs North Office                 Patch Panel and larger hub

                        Meigs North Library                           Patch Panel

                        Meigs North new hallway             Patch Panel, hub & 6 new drops

                       

                        Meigs Middle                                     New hub & 8 new drops

           

                        Meigs High School Office   Patch Panel, larger hub & 4 new drops

                        Meigs High School Library Patch Panel, 6 new drops, extra hub

                        Meigs High School Danner Patch Panel, 4 new drops, new hub

                        Meigs High School Pride    New hub and 4 new drops

                       

                        Meigs South                           New hub and wiring in A/R Lab

           

                        Meigs Central Office               Equipment Rack, Server & 3 New Drops

 

           

            In addition, we replaced all our Novell 3.11 servers with WindowsNT 4 Servers

and implemented DHCP on all client computers.      

 

Also, we rolled out 20 new Pentium II & III class workstations; equally

distributed among all sites.

 

Finally, to augment our existing learning labs we began upgrading and deploying

Fifty (50) 486 class PC’s donated by the State.

 

(b)  The Meigs County School System will begin purchasing equipment and

       furnishings to build 2 new learning labs this year; one at Meigs South and one

       at Meigs North.  These labs are based largely on a Federal Goals 2000 grant. 

      The labs will be based on 25 Pentium III class machines with a dedicated

      server and software specific to their objectives. 

 

 

(c)     Training is an area where we are just beginning to provide required solutions. 

 

Our first aim is to equip our teachers with sufficient training to guarantee that

they are able to utilize our electronic support systems.  We feel this is urgent;

We can’t leverage our new technology effectively unless our teachers can be

equipped and supported in their existing technology. 

 

Our next training focus will be on four (4) quarterly sessions equipping

our teachers in the basics of their operating system, word processing,

spreadsheet and Internet Browser software.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

End of Executive Summary

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Meigs County Schools

 

Five Year Technology Plan

 

System Number:

 

2000-20001 through 2004-2005

 

Version 1.0

 

 

5/23/2000

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                       

 

 

 

    

 

                       


 

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

 

Section

Title

Page

 

Overview

 

ii

1

Introduction

 

1

2

 

Standard Wiring & Cabling

 

2

3

Hubs, Switches & Routers

 

3

4

System Mission/Goals

 

4

5

Proposed Projects

 

5

6

Preliminary Budget

 

8

7

Conclusion

 

10

 

 

     Overview

 

            The Meigs County School System has been very successful in implementing the

most cost effective technology for use in the classroom. In an environment of

constant technological change, it continues to investigate techniques and

methodologies that may have a profound effect on promoting the district's

educational program.

 

            This five year technology plan is designed to inform administrators, the State, and

the community at large about the technological issues at hand and to outline a

phased plan that will continue to promote the best facilities available to support

the students of the district.

 

            Community support for these technological innovations is considered both

desirable and necessary.

 

This plan outlines methods of obtaining public support through skilled

presentations to budget committees, civic groups, community gatherings, and

administrative meetings.

 

            Some of the planned expenditures have offsetting cost avoidance and/or

displacement             consequences that should aid in funding justification.  Where an

expenditure cannot be justified on this basis, its implementation will improve the

educational facilities available to the community.

 

            Planned expenditures, by year, for continued support of this plan are*:

 

                        2000                2001               2002                2003                2004               

                        $17,780          $5100             $6600              $22,300            $20,000

 

                *in thousands of dollars

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ii

SECTION 1

 

INTRODUCTION

 

The power of computers is doubling every 9 months, while their price is

declining at a like rate. Because powerful computers are now extremely

affordable, computers will continue to bring more educational opportunities to the

fingertips of students in the classroom.  

Yet, even with fast computers and more widely available technological resources, there is no guarantee that the mere presence of technology will afford the results being sought in our mission and goals.

The goal of this five year technology plan is to ensure that the best tools are available to meet the needs of classroom instructors and administrators. It is

through technology that students will be properly prepared to enter the working

world that awaits them.

The Meigs County School System will seek to adopt new technology and to fund a phased five year program for the district to install the needed equipment

and to train its personnel in its use. The plan is expected to benefit from the

substantial involvement of the community in establishing the needs and in

justifying the funds necessary for its implementation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1

SECTION 2

 

STANDARD WIRING & CABLING PRACTICES

 

The State has made recommendations on cabling and wiring for the classroom  that the district expects to follow. The cable plant being implemented in our buildings is designed to support district applications well into the next century.

Meigs County Schools utilizes a team of technicians who are Network+ and Category 5 certified.  We feel this provides a relative degree of assurance

that our cable plant adheres to Category 5 and Category 5 Enhanced

specifications.  Periodic testing, auditing and benchmarking of our Network bears

this out

The contract technicians also provide us with extensive documentation

concerning our cable plant.  This has proved invaluable in planning future

growth as well as in improving quality of service to our constituents.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2

SECTION 3

 

HUBS, SWITCHES & ROUTERS

 

Meigs County began with 10mb Nics and Hubs several years ago.  As we have             expanded each of our LANS we have slowly begun converting our entire network to 100mb. 

            In addition to continuing the 10mb to 100mb conversion we plan to

            replace key hubs with 10/100 switches.  Although we realize this can

            in some cases simply relocate a bottleneck on a given network, we

            have demonstrated through testing that our networks will benefit from this

change.

We participated in ENA’s roll-out of the CISCO 2600 series routers and nowhave 256k ISDN access to 4 of our 5 physical locations.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3

 

SECTION 4

 

MISSION/GOALS

 

The three-pronged mission of the Meigs County School System in developing this rolling, five-year plan is to inform district personnel of the technology changes facing the educational community, to solicit the support of local industry and community leaders in the district's pursuit of the best available technology for community education, and to outline a phased approach for its introduction. The plan outlines the project proposals needed to support the district in providing the best technology to support education in our community. The phasing of projects will entail the development of detailed project proposals and associated annual budgets, in coordination with production of the annual district budget.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4

 

 

 

PROJECTED PROJECT PROPOSALS IN SUPPORT OF THE

FIVE YEAR TECHNOLOGY PLAN

 

            The following projects are expected to be proposed and implemented during the five years covered by this technology plan.   Preliminary budgets for these projects are outlined in the following section.

 

2000-2001

 

#00-01             Extend LAN wiring infrastructure to include south hallway of Meigs

County High School.  12 Rooms not currently wired will be connected to

LAN.

 

#00-02             Purchase 56k External Modems at install at all 4 schools and at central

office.  These modems will serve as emergency remote access and backup

email/internet             access for each location.

 

#00-03             Develop a data-backup and protection program utilizing existing servers

and existing 5 Gig Tape Drives.  Augment with CD-R writers.  Include

off-site storage as part of program for all critical data.  Standardize

scheduling and verification of said backups.

 

#00-04             Conduct district-wide training in use of remote "work-order" request

system.

 

#00-05             Purchase & Install 10 new PIII workstations to be equally allocated among

all sites.

 

 

2001-2002

 

#01-01             Install 1 switch at each location as an upgrade to existing hubs.  Switch

will connect directly to servers, router, and all downstream hubs.

 

#01-02             Establish a WAN by connecting each school site LAN to the Central

Office LAN. Utilize current technology including but not limited to

DHCP, NAT, PPTP and VPN.

 

#01-03             Expand LAN wiring infrastructure to include remote lab building at South.

                        Utilize standard CAT-5 cable and connect to existing  hub.

 

 

 

5

 

2001-2002 continued…

 

#01-04             Roll-out a comprehensive web-site hosted on Central Office Web-server.

                        Include informational pages for County, City and Chamber as well as

                        school system.

 

#01-05             Implement quarterly training, available to all district personnel.  Cover

                        the following topics--

                       

·        Windows95/98 Basics

·        Word Basics

·        Excel Basics

·        The Internet

 

2002-2003

 

#02-01             Develop a curriculum designed to train individuals in PC Repairs &

Upgrades.

 

#02-02             Deploy a wireless networking solution to connect remote buildings at

                        Meigs County High School to existing local LAN.

 

#02-03             Purchase a new server to host MeigsCounty.Net email.  This will

                        provide decreased load on existing web-server.

 

#02-04             Continue quarterly, district-wide training available to all personnel. 

Topics will include--

 

·        The Internet as a research tool

·        Using Word - Advanced

·        Using Excel - Advanced

·        Introduction to PowerPoint

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6

 

2003-2004

 

#03-01             Rollout an accredited class in PC Repairs & Upgrades.

 

#03-02             Continue quarterly, district-wide training available to all personnel. 

Topics             to include--

 

·        Advanced PowerPoint

·        Publishing to the Web from Word

·        Publishing to the Web from Excel

·        Personal Web Server in the Classroom

 

#03-03             Upgrade all existing NT server hardware to keep pace

                        with software needs and increased demand. 

 

 

#03-04             Install 10 New Workstations equally distributed among all sites.

 

 

2004-2005

 

#04-01             Purchase a new server to support remote work order system. 

                        This will decrease the load on the existing web server.

 

#04-02             Expand PC Repair Class to two (2) daily segments

 

#04-03             Purchase a centralized student management software package

                        and deploy it on the WAN.

 

#04-04             Seek out increased Internet bandwidth solutions at all sites through

products such as DSL.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

7

 

PRELIMINARY FIVE YEAR TECHNOLOGY

BUDGET SUMMARY

 

            The following is a preliminary estimate of the non-recurring cost of the identified projects by years.  Recurring expense has not been included, but will be provided in the

Detailed project proposal for each project.

 

2000-2001

 

            Project                                     Preliminary Cost

            #00-01                                          $580

            #00-02                                          $750 

            #00-03                                          $150

            #00-04                                          $300

            #00-05                                     $16,000

                        Total                             $17,780

 

2001-2002

 

            Project                                     Preliminary Cost

            #01-01                                        $2000

            #01-02                                        $1500 

            #01-03                                          $200

            #01-04                                        $1200

            #01-05                                          $200

                        Total                                $5100

 

 

2002-2003

 

            Project                                     Preliminary Cost

            #02-01                                          $500

            #02-02                                        $3750 

            #02-03                                        $2150

            #02-04                                          $200

                        Total                                $6600

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

8

 

2003-2004

 

            Project                                     Preliminary Cost

            #03-01                                        $4000

            #03-02                                          $300 

            #03-03                                        $2000

            #03-04                                     $16000

                        Total                             $22,300

 

2004-2005

 

            Project                                     Preliminary Cost

            #04-01                                        $2000

            #04-02                                        $3000 

            #04-03                                     $12,000

            #04-04                                        $3000

                        Total                             $20,000

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

9

SECTION 7

CONCLUSION

Over the past ten years, the Meigs County School System has sought the

to adopt technology for educational excellence. The district plans to steadfastly seek the most robust solutions possible for our students.

Rapid technological change dictates a phased approach to its

implementation. Careful selection of equipment is giving the district an

opportunity to upgrade equipment as enhancements are brought to market.

During this five-year program, our network infrastructure will be enhanced with switches and faster nic/hub connections. 

The district is planning the implementation of a WAN during 2001 to interlink all school LANs  with the Central Office.

The district expects to start an investigation of wireless LANs during the coming year which, if successfully employed, has the potential of networking all computers used in classrooms. If this technology appears to be cost effective, it will be included in the next revision of our five- year plan.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

10