KELSEYVILLE — The Kelseyville Unified School District Board of Trustees Tuesday night voted to purchase hardware equipment for a fiber-optic upgrade to the school district”s high-speed Internet.
The equipment upgrade is part of a countywide technology program to speed up Internet access for all school districts. The Lake County Office of Education and the district are working together on the upgrade.
The equipment costs slightly more than $13,000 and was already budgeted by the district as part of technology costs. The fiber-optic upgrade will be completed in 2013.
Board member John DeChaine said he had some concerns about spending money on the upgrade, asking Superintendent Dave McQueen if the district could wait to purchase the hardware until the next school year. McQueen said the district needed to upgrade now because it doesn”t have enough bandwidth.
The board voted unanimously to approve the purchase.
The board approved placing 17 classified employees, who were given pink slips, on a 39-month rehire list. The approval was part of the consent agenda.
The board honored five retiring employees with plaques. Board President Rick Winer read the text of the plaque aloud before presenting them to the two honorees in attendance, Debbie Meadows and Enrico Frediani.
The board held a discussion about changing the field trip approval policy. The current policy has trips be first approved by the school”s principal and the superintendent before receiving final approval by the board. Field trips must be submitted with an itinerary at least a week before the trip.
Board member Gary Olson said the board had to hold some emergency meetings to approve field trips for groups. Olson said this was unnecessary and Superintendent McQueen could easily approve the trips. Board member Peter Quartarolo said some groups don”t get proposals or itineraries to the board with enough time to approve, and Olson agreed.
Board member Chris Irwin said he didn”t want to see the approval process taken away from the board because it is a venue where concerned parents can talk to the board before the trip is approved. The board did not vote on changing the policy. The policy change may be put on the agenda for a future meeting as an action item.
The board will meet again Tuesday at 7 p.m. to go over next fiscal year”s budget.
Kevin N. Hume can be reached at kevin.n.hume@gmail.com or call directly 263-5636 ext. 14.
