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Braintree to spend $254K on classroom technology
The purchases will provide iPads and computers, and will be funded by unpsent money from previously approved school projects. emailprintCOMMENT0 0

By Lane Lambert
The Patriot Ledger
Posted Nov. 6, 2014 @ 8:08 pm

BRAINTREE - The town’s schools soon will spend $254,000 for new classroom iPads and computers. The town council approved the purchases at Wednesday night’s regular meeting.

Superintendent Maureen Murray said the updated equipment is part of the district’s plan to fully install wireless Internet service in all nine schools and get ready to administer standardized state tests online. She told the council that classroom technology hasn’t been replaced in several years.

The purchases won’t involve extra, unbudgeted spending. Murray and Mayor Joseph Sullivan’s chief of staff- Michael Coughlin- said the $254,000 will be taken from unspent, previously approved bond money.
Murray said three contract bids for recent school improvements were lower than estimated, freeing up money for the technology. The council approved moving the leftover balances from those contract accounts.

The superintendent told the council that she aims to have full WiFi service in all schools by the end of 2016.
Since the successor to the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System tests will eventually be completely online, “we need a network that can handle that,” Murray said.

Morrison Elementary and Ross Elementary are already fully wireless, thanks to federal grants. The high school, East and South middle schools and other four elementaries all have WiFi “hot spot” areas.

Sullivan said this summer that Braintree High School and the other six schools might get full WiFi for as little as $250,000 from the town, along with state and other grants.

But Braintree Electric Light Department general manager William Biggotti said then the cost is hard to estimate, since Internet technology will be installed in older buildings.
Reach Lane Lambert at llambert@ledger.com or follow him on Twitter @LLambert_Ledger.