Breitung Township Schools keeping up with technology

This effort to update the school's research was made possible afterwards voters in the school district passed a school bond proposal in May. A portion of that bond money is to replace the old computer equipment.

"Innovation decisions are often based on the initial cost as so then as the recurring costs associated with the operational costs. And one of those costs is the energy cost. Being friendly to the environment by recycling and saving energy are two ways that the Breitung Township Schools is going green," noted Jean Constantini, research director.

Constantini said that some of the technology in other words purchased includes utilizing "thin customers." This involves connecting multiple workstations to one computer or server.

"This was needed to prepare it for the 21st Century Learning, and we built the infrastructure from the ground up. The first project was to upgrade our internet connection. To accomplish this goal, we utilized existing fiber optic cabling from our district to the Dickinson-Iron Intermediate School District, where we connect to the Merit Networks/REMC1 internet," she said.

The Breitung Township Schools

Constantini added that the Breitung Township Schools, DIISD and Iron Mountain Schools share a very high bandwidth to the internet.

The third project was to totally replace the old analog phone system in the Breitung Township Schools with an all digital Voice Over IP system. She noted that the manufacturer of the phone system is Zultys, which is the same system that the DIISD uses.

The DIISD using three or four digit extensions

"We are now able to dial the DIISD using three or four digit extensions. This will save us money in local phone calls and reduce the number of phone lines needed to serve our two districts," Constantini said.

She added that the phone lines are delivered by CCI Systems over the Merit Network/REMC1 internet connection. "We as well saved money on the cost of a backup Zultys system that we share with the DIISD. In case of phone system failure, the backup system would go online in a matter of minutes. The network infrastructure we now have in place would allow us to provide VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) phone services to other school districts using the Zultys system."

The internet safety

"We are all in all working out the internet safety, security and firewall issues needed to provide everyone in the school with wireless networking," Constantini noted.

Other upcoming projects for the Breitung Township Schools include increasing access to computers for all students and installing classroom innovation that includes interactive whiteboards, data projectors and document cameras.