The Indian Prairie District 204 School Board voted this week to spend $3.3 million to update the internet wireless system at most schools and district buildings.
Officials in the technology department told board members the current controller-based wireless system is at the end of its working life.
The board agreed to a complete replacement of a controllerless solution and 2,750 wireless access points.
Two other less expensive choices to replace the equipment with a controller-based system with 500 wireless access points or a controllerless-based system with 1,650 access points were rejected, Chief Technology Officer Rod Mack said.
“After reviewing all of the options, we felt that this was the best way to move forward,” Mack said. “It will give students and staff the appropriate connection.”
Prior to voting on the issue, Mack showed the board a map of district buildings that showed the current Wi-Fi system doesn’t expand far from the wireless control boxes.
The new system will have a much greater reach and will be able expand through more walls, doors and in some cases to nearby areas outdoors, he said.
Documents also indicate the new system will have AI technology that can identify and fix problems before an online session is affected. The district plans to begin installing the system soon and work will continue during summer break.
In addition to the Wi-Fi presentation, the IT Department provided the board with a short technology service update report and audit on cybersecurity.
The first recommendation was to make adjustments that would require a stronger password.
“We use somewhere in the neighborhood of ten to seven characters with three of the four options,” Mack said. “The four options are: using a number, using a capital letter, using a lowercase letter and a symbol. What we are looking to do is move it up to a 16-character password with at least two (options).”
The district and its partners also held phishing security tests with employees in which fake and fraudulent emails are sent out as a means of emphasizing the importance of diligence in stopping attacks that can damage a computer or network system.
The district scored a 6.4% rating, compared to an overall 6.5% industry rating, officials said.
While the district is better than the average, the idea would for them to cut that number in half, staff said.
The IT Department is in the process of purchasing and refreshing Chromebooks and converting all schools to cloud service so that not everything has to be saved on hard drives.
More information on future technology changes and plans can be found on the district’s website, www.ipsd.org.
The district has about 27,400 students who live in Naperville, Aurora, Bolingbrook and Plainfield in DuPage and Will counties.
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Joseph Ruzich is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun.