Board approves funds for technology upgrades

Fremont Public Schools will spend more than $318,000 this summer to make improvements to technology.

The amount was approved during Monday night’s monthly meeting of the FPS Board of Education at the Main Street Education and Administration Center.

Cliff Huss, director of information services for Fremont Public Schools, went over the work that needed to be done this summer, including the replacement and/or installation of 334 computers at the Fremont High School computer lab.

Huss said the cost for the computers would be about $272,000.

“It’s the best price we’ve seen in a long time on computers,” Huss said.

File servers also will be replaced at a cost of about $13,000 and cabling projects at FHS and Platteville Elementary will run around $13,000.

There also will be switches and SFP modules replaced or installed at several schools, with a cost of just under $20,000.

The board also approved revisions to the FPS attendance policy.

Kevin Eairleywine, the FPS director of human resources and administrative operations, said the changes include simplified language and are in line with state statutes.

In other business, the board approved two out-of-state trip requests.

One was for 21 Fremont High cheerleaders and two sponsors to attend a cheerleading camp

June 29 through July 2 at Lake Okoboji in Iowa.

The other is a potential trip by the FHS choir to attend the North Central American Choral Directors Association convention program next March in Minneapolis.

A recording of the choir was sent to the association and FHS vocal music director Mark Harman said he expects to find out if the choir will be invited on June 1.

The Fremont Choir Booster Club has agreed to pay for the trip, Harman said in his proposal.

The board also approved a donation of approximately $2,000 from the Howard Elementary School PTA to purchase and install new drinking fountains at the school.

The donation of $500 worth of free books to Grant Elementary through Target’s “Making Noise In the School Library” program also was approved.