Mineola Board of Ed Notebook: Nov. 3

The  held a meeting on Thursday, Nov. 3. Here are some of the things you may have missed.

Wide Area Network

• The board approved an agreement with Nassau BOCES for fiber optic connectivity, internet and voice services, otherwise known as the district’s wide-area network (WAN) for 5 years at a cost of $176,905.
• “BOCES has the ability to leverage many districts to get a better price for bundles just like your cell phone would be bundled with data and voice this is the same premise,” Superintendent Dr. Michael Nagler said.
• It is a savings of about $1,000 per month per year over the previous contract.
• According to Dr. Nagler BOCES is also leasing its airwaves to NEXTEL and reinvesting it into the county’s technology infrastructure “so it’s their desire to build a county-wide network and we’re going to be one of the first schools to get hooked up to that network,” which will be known as the BO-TI initiative.
• Dr. Nagler said that he is investigating whether they can use the savings to upgrade the phone handsets, since they are all original. “The phones are starting to break,” he said.

Construction Updates

• Bids for the construction at the were sent out to bid, with approval from the state education department expected on November 4.
• The bids were set to be opened on November 16.
• The new  parking lot was refinished on election day. While light stantions were installed, the district was waiting for LIPA to install an electrical box.
• Refurbishing of the new softball field at the high school consisted of concrete rims stacked four high to help drainage. The new field will be ready for the spring season.
• Renovation of the will be in three phases, two of which will be done this year and the final phase completed during the summer with money from the 2012-13 budget. “That room will be completely redone from floor to ceiling and a totally different look than it has now,” Dr. Nagler said.

District Website

• While more teachers are of the , content “still depends” on how the individual teachers make use of the tools.
• According to Dr. Nagler, “a good portion” of the teachers are on the site and making use of the features.

Other Board News

• The board approved the internal auditor’s procedures report related to the district’s extraclassroom activities report. The board had asked the auditor to review the extraclass activities and list recommendations. Assistant Superintendent of Finance Jack Waters will write a corrective action plan on how the the issues set forth in the report will be addressed.
• The membership for the strategic planning committee was finalized, except for two teachers.