Technology Upgrades Planned In FDL School District

As the current building expansions and renovations within the Fond du Lac School District come a close, new challenges face the district once the New Year begins.

The $98.5 million referendum approved back in April of 2019 was used to fund projects across the district as well as installing air conditioning at schools that had none.

In a special School Board Capital Improvements workshop held earlier this week, Superintendent Dr. Jeffrey Fleig told Board members that most of the construction phases have been completed. “We have been able to meet the needs of our Phase 1 and Phase 2 buildings. This is really about finishing our Phase 3 buildings. There’s quite a bit of cost involved and we want to get it in front of you (the board members) so you can do some planning and some thinking.”

Troy Seyfert is the Director of Technology for the District, and informed the board that an upgraded technology infrastructure within the district is at the top of the list when it comes to the next district project. “We’ve got 1 to 1 Chromebook access now in grades 6 through 12. Without a top notch wireless infrastructure, those devices are not going to work appropriately.”

Seyfert said the district also needs to protect itself against a cyber attack. “We talk about risk management. And this is one that’s come to the forefront the last few weeks, certainly for school districts, municipalities, are becoming the number one target for cyber criminals world wide, not just here in the United States.”

Mr. Seyfert referred to a recent ransomware attack on the Janesville School District back in late October, that left students, staff and parents unable to login to some of the district’s online programs, due to cyber criminals locking the servers down.

The technology upgrades could be done all at once, or be done in stages over the next 2-4 years, and is expected to cost close to $2 million.

The discussion will continue at the next scheduled School Board meeting, set for January 10, 2022.