Liquid damage and crumbs.
Gum.
Hair and hair products.
Bed bugs.
You name it, there’s a decent chance Tulsa Public Schools Executive Director of Information Technology Robert F. Burton and his team have seen it inside a student Chromebook returned for repair or retirement.
“Anything you can think a student, or in some cases adults, could be involved with, it could be in a device,” Burton said with a chuckle.
Proposition No. 3 of TPS’ five-year, four-part $609 million bond proposal would include $104.7 million for technology needs, including $68.3 million to refresh and replace laptops and other classroom devices used by teachers and students.
In light of evolving technology and classroom needs, the district typically replaces laptops and other devices about every five years. Along with issuing a laptop to every student, TPS also issues a laptop to staff members as well and keeps extras handy in case of enrollment surges or the need for a quick replacement.
That’s on top of the annual laptop attrition rate that occurs due to regular wear and tear, devices not being returned, insect infested hardware or damage caused by more extreme measures, such as individual keys or keyboards being pried up or cracked screens from laptops being dropped.
Along with trying to accommodate for technology shifts, Burton and TPS bond project manager Ellen Duecker acknowledged that inflation and tariffs have had an impact on this particular proposition. By comparison, the district’s 2021 bond included $90.7 million for technology needs.
“Usually within a five-year period, the cost of a device goes up because of tariffs, inflation, shipping and natural growth,” Burton said. “Whatever we pay in year one of a bond, usually in the next bond, it’s higher.”
At a March 10 forum hosted by the Tulsa Press Club, Superintendent Ebony Johnson acknowledged ongoing conversations both at the local and state level about reducing the role of technology in the classroom, but said that the investment in student and staff devices is still needed while that balance is getting worked out.
“We are discussing what that balance should look like in the future,” she said. “We own the fact that we are at a time in which we have utilized interventions and resources in a way that has been a teacher’s assistant and it has aided teachers in the work that we needed to do.
“However, we are now building up our teaching force with professional development support so they can stand firm on the science of reading … and other information that needs to be taught and they can feel good about doing that without the need to rely on technology to do that.”
The proposition also calls for $29 million for network and software investments, including money for cybersecurity supports and testing.
In addition to having to safeguard personal and academic information about its 32,000-plus students, TPS also has identifying information about those students’ families, such as phone numbers, addresses and whether they meet the income requirements for free or reduced price school meals.
On top of that, there is also personal information from TPS’ 5,400-plus employees to protect, plus the district’s financial records.
Multiple other businesses in the Tulsa area have been hit with ransomware and large-scale cybersecurity attacks within the last two years, including Ascension St. John, Tulsa International Airport and via its parent company, the Tulsa World.
With those incidents in mind, Burton said the cybersecurity funds are being sought through the bond package to help the district remain in compliance with multiple state and federal data privacy regulations, including the Family Educational Rights Privacy Act, the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act and the Health Insurance Portability Accountability Act.
“We are actually probed and tested daily by individuals who would like to seek access into our district and leverage that information for their own purposes,” Burton said, noting that those attempts typically become even more frequent when TPS in not session.
“It can be used in a lot of different ways, inappropriately and illegally. Cybersecurity’s an ongoing effort and it’s not just us. Every public school district has that issue and every company has that issue.”
As per state law, school bond proposals require a supermajority of at least 60 percent of the votes cast in order to pass. Should TPS’ bond package be approved, it would not raise property tax rates. Instead, it would replace the 2021 bond, which will have its last round of funds released later this year.
Absentee ballot requests must be received by 5 p.m. Monday. Early voting is scheduled for 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. April 2-3 and Election Day is April 7.
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