Features

Back Office Business

6/28/2012 By:

Challenge: Leaders at California’s Woodland Joint Unified School District needed to save money as much as they needed to upgrade technology.
Solution: By replacing 300 aging PCs in five computer labs with virtualized desktops from Pano Logic, the district brought energy consumption down from $50 to $5 per year to power each PC. “We needed a solution that required less maintenance, consumed less energy, and improved productivity of our IT staff. Pano Logic has delivered,” says Joshua Koch, director of technology in the district.

Challenge: Mount Diablo (CA) Unified School District wanted to reduce its electricity costs.
Solution: The district partnered with SunPower Corp. to install 51 solar power systems for district schools and facilities by the end of this year, which will reduce the district’s electricity costs by more than $3 million per year. SunPower is installing systems on rooftops, parking lots, and hard court areas. The company is also providing learning materials to enhance next year’s STEM curriculum.

Challenge: Falls Church (VA) Public Schools wanted to respond to parents’ requests to stop completing the same forms every year.
Solution: The district’s IT department searched for a more efficient way to collect student and family information. They turned to infosnap, which developed a web-based enrollment, registration, and online forms module, resulting in tons of money saved.

Challenge: St. Richard Elementary School in Canada was on a mission to save paper, reduce costs, and transform the school into a 21st-century learning community.
Solution: The school turned to Improv Electronics’ Boogie Board eWriters, which students used instead of paper to complete activities, tests, essays, and more. “Substituting paper with Boogie Board eWriters for nearly every writing or drawing activity in our classrooms resulted in a whopping 40-percent reduction in paper consumption and photocopy costs,” says Jeff Fillion, St. Richard’s principal.

Challenge: After four years, the one-to-one laptop program at the Oakland Science of Arts School in California became too costly to continue. The school was determined to fulfill its goal of providing computing resources to students 24 hours a day.
Solution: David Smith, the director of technology, moved to NComputing’s desktop virtualization model. Now he’s seen a 60-percent reduction in the amount of time spent on maintenance and costs for equipment and upkeep. “The experience for the students has been effortless,” says Smith, who can now expand his classroom involvement and spend more time on professional development.