Local school districts in New York are upgrading their technology thanks to a $2 billion Smart School Bond Act. Earlier this month, the Smart Schools Review Board met for the 13th time to approve districts’ Smart Schools plans and allocate $85 million.

According to a news report, the funds pay for school connectivity, community connectivity, classroom technology, pre-K classrooms, replacement transportable classroom units and high-tech security.

Specifics include:

• $64,800 for classroom technology in the Adirondack Central School District (and a plan revision that takes away, at least for now, $223,259 for school connectivity).
• $483,920 for school connectivity in the Frankfort-Schuyler Central School District. Frankfort-Schuyler will use the funding to upgrade its data network infrastructure to support increased student demand and to add safety and security components and prevent security breaches by upgrading outdated network cabling, said Kacey Sheppard-Thibault, business administrator. Upgrading network closet racks and hardware to protect network switching equipment is also part of the project. 
• $218,106 for classroom technology in the Hamilton Central School District. The money will be used to buy Chromebooks and iPads so that every student will have a device, said Superintendent Peter Punzo. The rest of the money will be spent on interactive whiteboards and projectors, he said.
• $199,376 for school connectivity and $86,676 for high-tech security in the Richfield Springs Central School District. That money will go toward replacing and expanding its technology infrastructure, said Superintendent Tom Piatti. This includes replacing the VoIP (internet) phone system and fiber optic wiring throughout the district, wireless access points, servers, switches and point-to-point access used on the grounds. These upgrades will provide iPads to pre-K through fourth-grade students and MacBook Air laptops that fifth through 12th-graders use. 
• $108,349 for school connectivity and $440,720 for classroom technology in the Morrisville-Eaton Central School District.
• $228,571 for school connectivity in the Poland Central School District.