PSD IT Director Rose Muller (r) presents to finance subcommittee

The Portsmouth School Committee is developing its budget for 2011, and at the finance subcommittee meeting this week, members heard an encouraging report from the IT department: a request that features no increase in budget while allocating more spending for technology to support instruction. How did they do it?

According to the presentation by IT Director Rose Muller, (available on the PSD web site) through smarter software choices and staff training.

The proposed budget shaves more than $6K off licensing fees in the operational budget. "We're making use of open source," said Muller. For those not familiar, "open source" is software made freely available and supported by a community of developers. The name refers to the raw code for the application (what programmers call the "source") being freely available and modifiable.

In addition, the budget reduces the allocation for purchased services — outside IT consulting — by $20K. Muller said this was accomplished through targeted professional development for the IT staff which allowed them to handle a wider range of support without calling on outside help.

That's $26K that can go to things like projectors, interactive whiteboards, document cameras, and communications. "As teachers work to differentiate instruction, they need more technology in the classroom," said Muller in an e-mail.

Muller also reviewed the IT department's operations for the finance subcommittee. The four-person staff (Muller, a network administrator, a systems administrator, and a computer support specialist, assisted by two college interns) deal with an average of 320 tech requests a month, and support a network of 1,100 workstations and 75 printers, used by 3,800 students, faculty, and staff. The total yearly outlay, fully loaded (including benefits) is $295K.

Even counting the part-time interns, that's a workstation support ratio of around 250:1, which would be considered very lean in private-sector IT. Kudos to Muller and the team — not only are they a providing efficient, cost-effective services, they have shown a commitment to continuous improvement that will pay off for our kids. Job well done.

There were not a lot of citizens at the finance meeting — it was just this reporter and Town Councilor Keith Hamilton. If you want to hear the nitty-gritty on the school budget, these meetings are a great opportunity. I'll try to cover as many as I can.

Future Finance Subcommittee meetings (5-7pm unless noted)
Mon, Feb. 22 – Elementary Schools (Town Hall – Planning Board Room) 5-6PM
Wed, Feb. 24 – Middle School/High School/Strategic Plan/BEP (PHS Library)
Wed, March 3 – Teaching-Learning/Student Support/Other Budget Lines (PHS Library)
Wed, March 10 – Salary/Benefits  (PHS Library)
Tue, March 16 – Full Budget/Projections (Town Hall)
Mon, March 22 – If needed  (PHS Library)

Full disclosure: I am a volunteer member of the district technology committee, and I yammer incessantly about open source.