Members of the Westbury School District community will be able to weigh in on what the district should spend its $3.4 million state grant on at the Board of Education’s upcoming meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 16.
The district received a one-time grant of $3,440,766 through the state’s Smart Schools Bond Act, a 2014 state initiative, to enhance educational technology and infrastructure in support of 21st-century learning.
The school released its Preliminary Smart Schools Investment Plan at a board meeting last year, highlighting the rules governing the use of the funding.
According to the presentation, the money can be allocated to one of six categories: school security and safety, school networking, classroom technology, community connection, Pre-K classroom improvements and/or elimination of temporary/trailer classrooms.
Smart Bond funds cannot be used to pay salaries or BOCES, or for purchasing software, it states.
The district created a Smart School Planning Committee, which had recommended to the board that it use the funding to upgrade the district’s high-tech security and school networking to provide a safe and secure learning environment, the presentation states.
The upgrades would include emergency classroom notification systems at multiple buildings, a districtwide VoIP phone System for emergency communication, network and computer network cable upgrades, electronic door entry control, security and emergency communication generators, and new intrusion detection systems for all schools, according to the presentation.
The committee recommended that the remaining funds be considered “evergreen” and that they could be used for whatever is needed.
Efforts to confirm the specific financial breakdown of the proposed projects from the district were unavailing.
The Board of Education meeting will be held at Westbury High School at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 16.
