The Pine Bluff School District has designated effective use and integration of technology as our high priority for the coming school year. One important component of this is running a network between the four present school buildings. Communication of attendance data, grade data and e-mail capabilities are the goal of this network.

The network will be designed to connect all of our present school buildings to the Administration building which will hold the servers that run the network. MOREnet has provided the district with a T1 line, which connects us to the Internet. Most of the buildings will be connected with buried fiber, but there are complications with connecting the Administration Building because it is set apart by a major roadway. We are proposing here to set up a wireless network that will connect it directly to the Middle School and from there to the other two schools.

The Pine Bluff Schools are planning three things that will guarantee the success of this endeavor. First of all part of the funding that was requested has been budgeted for support personnel. We are hiring two people who will manage very different aspects of our technology plan. One position is Technology Supervisor. This person will work at the district level to manage all of the technical aspects of the Network. The second position is Technology Coach. This person is an educator who has a degree and or equivalent experience in technology. The job of this person will be to assist the teachers in the day to day use of technology. This will include some troubleshooting, training sessions, on site and ongoing consulting, and technology curriculum development. We are hoping that this person will also manage the district web page.

Teachers are the real keys to seeing the results of the investment of technology, so we are allotting 30% of the budget for support and training. We hope to send teachers to conferences and provide quality inservice. In addition we are listening to the teachers. Regular surveys have been taken and the results have had an effect on the decisions being made. This change will not be easy for the teachers, but we are anticipating qualitative improvements in our delivery of education. For this reason we are being careful to provide the needed support.

We are excited about the future ahead of us. The following pages of this report include detail of the network plan, diagrams of the schools, and budget sheets. Please take not of the options that are offered at certain points. You are urged to carefully judge which of the alternatives will best serve our district.

OVERALL NETWORK

The hub (or center) of the Pine Bluff Network will be the Administration Building. It will house two servers. One will be dedicated to E-mail and Internet activities. The second will be used as a central file server and will be used at first mainly to run Gradekeeper, the program that we are using for tracking of assessment. The set up of these servers will allow for the addition of a separate web server if the capacity of the two original servers is surpassed in the future. Since the majority of the district machines at this time are Wintel machines we have opted to purchase Wintel servers. The servers will be running Windows NT 4.0 operating system, which is a requirement of Gradekeeper software, which was chosen previously.

Category 5 wire will be used inside the buildings and fiber between the buildings. Category 5 wire is versatile and will grow with the system. Although fiber is superior, the cost of the wire and its installation is prohibitive for use inside the buildings at this time. We have contracted with Smith Brothers Wiring for the running of all of the wire. They are experts in wiring public buildings. Another company, Interactive Wireless, has been hired to set up the satellite dishes for the wireless portion of the network. Although the expense of hiring outside contractors for these things is high in the long run it will save money because of their expertise.

The administration offices will be supplied with 10 pentium computers and a color laser printer. These computers will be networked to both the File Server and the E-mail Server. The Office Personnel will have access to all of the various information on the network (grade data, attendance data, e-mail and the www). One of the servers will also serve as a print server and allow the administration as well as selected other users to print on the color laser printer. The network will be wired in a star topology using an Ethernet network. All of the existing machines will be provided with an Ethernet network interface card.

The e-mail server will be running the TCP/IP protocol. The File server will be running the NetBEUI protocol. This will secure the grade and attendance data from outside access. All of the district machines that need to access the Gradekeeper software will be configured to do NetBEUI as well as TCP/IP. One location at the time of this planning will be configured with only NetBEUI and that is the lab in Room 102 of the High School. This will keep this particular lab from accessing the Internet, while still allowing it to access other shared files and peripherals.

There are two proposals for the wiring of the High School. The immediate goal is to network the two computer labs. The lab in Room 102 will be configured to use the NetBEUI protocol. This will allow them to share the printer and information, but not allow access to the Internet. The lab in Room 301 will be configured to use TCP/IP so that they can access the Internet as well as connect to the printer in Room 102. Network Interface Cards will be installed into each of the existing machines. They will also need to be set up with Eudora Lite for e-mail and configured for use with Gradekeeper. Since the machines are running Windows95 there will be no need for an operating system upgrade.

PLAN A: This is the minimal plan. It will only address the specific requests we have been given. Each two labs will be provided with 22 wire drops. Only 10 will be needed in Room 102 and 11 in Room 301 at this time, but the extra wire will run through the same conduits and will provide for growth. Since a network is connecting these two rooms it is recommended that at least a backbone of a network for the whole building be laid at the same time. Wire is inexpensive. Hiring the labor at this time in conjunction with this project will save money in the long run. Since the High School is three stories high the backbone will consist of one wiring closet for each floor. This will create a more robust network. If one wiring closet crashes the other two floors will be able to maintain their connection to the larger network. Each of these closets will be set up with a rack for the patch panel, switch and hub. Only the first and third floor closets will be outfitted with actual equipment at this time.

OPTIONAL RECOMMENDATIONS

PLAN B: (Marked in orange in the HS Physical Plan) This second proposal would take the backbone into each of the classrooms. On the budget page you will see the items that are in the "optional" category. Parts or all of these suggestions can be added depending on the budget. It is always recommended to run more wire than is needed at a particular time. The network will grow and we can anticipate needs for the future. Now is the time to run wire to each of the classrooms in preparation for future workstations. These outlets would not be used now, but as equipment becomes available it would just need to be plugged into the network to become active. As networking specialists we recommend that 4 drops be run to each classroom and at least two to the office area.

The Middle School currently has one machine for each classroom. We plan to put 4 network drops for each room to allow for expansion. The computers that the teachers are now using will need some upgrading to effectively use the network. All 12 machines will also be fitted with Ethernet Network Interface Cards. A license for Windows 98 (or 2000 if it is out!) needs to be purchased and the upgrade done. This will allow every teacher to access the attendance and grade information from the file server. Each of these classrooms has opted to use a less expensive local printer rather than sharing a laser printer. These will not be purchased as part of this networking plan.

Early training will show teachers how to manage their own control panel to change screen savers and wallpaper. Windows95 comes with a selection of different screen savers and colors. As time goes on the teachers will become more proficient and be able to download screen savers of their choice.

OPTIONAL RECOMMENDATIONS

The Middle School also has some optional recommendations, which are separately listed in the budget. It would be very helpful to provide the office with a color laser printer and at least one computer workstation. Wiring drops to the office as well as the Media Center and Teacher’s Workroom is highly recommended. These drops do not need to be used immediately, but when equipment is purchased in the future it can be plugged right in. Running wire involves intense labor and sometimes disruption of regular activities. The most economical solution would be to run all of the wire at once.

The elementary school is currently equipped with 5 PowerMacs, 5 Pentiums, one color printer, and one 486. At the current time these machines are not networked. There are no machines in the classrooms. The goal of this plan is to place a network in the Media Center so that all of the existing computers can share the printer and have access to the Internet. To network the elementary school we will need to create a wiring closet with a switch and a hub.

The Media Specialist has given us a plan for the location of the workstations in the Media Center. There will be two power poles installed so that groups of three machines each can cluster around them. The laser printer and the 486 will be located near the checkout counter with the 486 used as a print server. Windows NT will allow the Macs and the Pentiums to communicate on the same network. Due to the limitations on space in the Media Center no extra drops will be put in at this time.

OPTIONAL RECOMMENDATIONS

The original plan does not call for drops to the classrooms or the office. The budget sheet will detail the cost of running some additional wire for future growth. Since there are large windows on the outside walls it is recommended that drops be put into the three interior walls in each room. It is not recommended to place computer equipment near windows. The office should also be outfitted with two drops.