General Purpose
The mission of the Technology Information Services Department is to furnish secure, dependable, and consistent technology services and support to all Town and School District personnel and students within the Franklin Public School system. Furthermore, the department is dedicated to the maintenance and development of the foundational physical infrastructure, foreseeing future growth to enhance efficiencies and foster opportunities across computing and learning environments.
The Technology Information Services Department comprises 10 full-time and 2 part-time employees. As a Town/School "merged" department, we assume responsibility for supporting all technology initiatives and employees across both town and school departments, serving approximately 1,000+ end users and approximately 4,800 public school students. Despite the fact that, as a merged department, we support both town and school, the department's employee salaries are funded solely by the budget allocated to the Franklin Public School system.
Our team manages a diverse array of approximately 7,000 end-user computing devices, including Chromebooks, desktops, laptops, tablets, and cell phones and an array of peripheral devices connected to this equipment. These devices require access to a wide range of software and services. Our computing and network environment is built upon a private fiber optic wide area network (WAN), interconnecting 22 buildings throughout the town and providing access to over 100 file, application, and print servers.
Moreover, we ensure ubiquitous, enterprise-class wireless network access in all school and town buildings, facilitating seamless connectivity for our users.
Core Functions
● Provide, support and maintain a reliable, stable Information Technology environment.
● Provide, support and maintain a secure network infrastructure for data, internet access and email communications.
● Provide, support and maintain a secure and reliable remote learning and working environment.
● Provide the Town and Schools with proper support for our public facing websites.
● Provide secure and reliable backup of all user data.
● Work with the Facilities Department to create the proper physical environment to support ongoing and future technology initiatives.
● Make recommendations regarding changes and upgrades to existing technology.
● Increase efficiencies in all departments by working closely with department personnel to research and implement new technologies.
● Support and build data continuity between departments.
● Approve, negotiate and oversee the procurement process for all technology related purchases for the Town and School District.
● Adhere to state standards as related to technology.
● Ensure proper software licensing and compliance.
Staffing
All Technology Staff salaries are funded fully via the School Department (Account 300)
● One (1) Director of Technology
● One (1) Sr. Systems Administrator
● One (1) Sr. Network Administrator and Security Specialist
● One (1) Jr. Network Administrator/ Systems Administrator
● Five (5) Technology Support Technicians
● One (1) Database Administrator
● One (1) Part-Time Administrative Assistant
● One (1) Part-Time Inventory Specialist
Strategic Initiatives & Accomplishments
● Implemented new, upgraded version of Patriot Systems AssessPro software to a cloud based system
● Capital initiatives funded in FY26
○ Replacement of 47 Town laptops○ Replacement of 72 School laptops
● Security “penetration test” by EOTSS
● Developed comprehensive cybersecurity incident response plan
● Implement an electronic document management system for the HR department
● Implement upgraded version of our Employee Access portal
● Began soft roll-out of Tyler Content Management system
● Began encouraging departments to take advantage of AI within Google Workspace (Gemini)
● Extend warranty and support for the Town/School server stack/virtual env. until 2027
$100K
● Wireless Access Point 3 year license replacement $115,000
● Replace/upgrade end-of-life PA and bell system at Franklin High School
● Position the town and school district to take advantage of the rapidly changing world of AI. Staying ahead of this relatively recent development is imperative to the ongoing function of the town and schools on many levels from both a security standpoint as well as leveraging the potential benefits.
● Implement an Applicant tracking / hiring / onboarding system for the HR department.
FY27 Requested Budget Highlights
● Hardware Maint. Services - Decrease of $21,637
● Other IT Service Contracts - Increase of $10,421
● Consulting Services - Decrease of $20,000
FY27 Requested Budget Summary
● Security is an ongoing challenge for several reasons. The first challenge is acquiring talented, experienced candidates for the salaries we can support within the town/school budget. In lieu of hiring a full time specialist, we are investigating and piloting a “Virtual CISO” consultant (Chief Information Security Officer). This person will work with existing Technology Department personnel to implement a fully developed disaster recovery plan and incident response plan.
● Staffing continues to be an issue in the technology sector. Finding viable candidates requires providing competitive wages and this is where we struggle the most; especially in the more highly skilled positions requiring advanced degrees or experience.
● Technology replacement. While we were able to make a sizable dent in this area with our generous capital funding, the replacement of aging equipment is an ongoing challenge. Some estimates of our needs in the next few years are listed here:
○ FY27
■ Nearly 300 laptops for K-8 teachers purchased in 2020 are now 5+ years old. This happens every 3-4 years (roughly $360,000)■ Annual replacement of approximately 400 Chromebooks for our students - $100,000
○ FY28
■ Replace Virtual Environment or explore cloud alternatives -$600K-$800K■ Annual replacement of approximately 400 Chromebooks for our students - $100,000■ 110 laptops for our FHS teachers (laptops purchased in 2023) This happens every 3-4 years $120,000
○ FY29
■ Annual replacement of approximately 400 Chromebooks for our students - $100,000■ Replace Wireless Access Points for Town and School est. $600,000● Of course this is not an all-inclusive list and many unanticipated lower cost items will reveal themselves as the years progress ($10,000-$30,000 range) In order to meet these challenges into the future, I recommend the implementation of a Technology stabilization fund similar to the funding created for the fire truck replacement● As is common knowledge, underfunding aging equipment replacement is a ticking time bomb and will ultimately result in increased costs, lower productivity, employee frustration and complaints.
The PDF of this section -
For the full FY 2027 budget narrative - https://www.franklinma.gov/DocumentCenter/View/8912/FY27-Budget-Narrative-FINAL-1
The complete set of FY 2027 budget information can be found https://www.franklinma.gov/Archive.aspx?ADID=577