UFRSD Board of Ed. considers going paperless
Web-based materials would replace most working documents
BY JENNIFER KOHLHEPP Staff Writer

ALLENTOWN- Theworkwill still get done even if there is less paper involved.

In an effort to cut down on the use of paper and costs, the Upper Freehold Regional Board of Educationwants to try to go paperless, meaning most information the administration distributes to the board would be done so via secureWeb sites and email addresses. Board members would still have the option to print documents if they wanted to.

Manish Chaddha, the school district's director of technology and information services, said the district is committed to improving communication to raise the standard of education. Over the past year, he has helped the school district implement variousWeb-based programs such as Edline and Alert Now to improve the communication among school staff, students and parents. The paperless board meeting is an extension of the work Chaddha's department has already done, but largely focuses on improving communication between the board and administration.

Chaddha said the paperless program the district chooses to implementmustmeet various standards. He said such a program has to be user friendly, capable of public and private access, supportive of a variety of electronic formats, and economical.

He said he investigated different programs including schoolboardnet, Microsoft LiveMeeting, eAgenda,Moodle and Edline.

"I looked into all the products and all do similar stuff in a different way," Chaddha said. When comparing the school district's inhouse program, Edline, to programs from outside vendors, there is a big price difference, according to Chaddha.He said an outside vendor would charge between $4,000 and $15,000 for a programEdline could run for free.

Chaddha recently provided the Board of Education with a demonstration of how such a programwouldwork through Edline. He said board agendas,which are posted online, would include certain items as links that the board couldmake public or private. For example, if a certain itemon the agenda has a corresponding attachment that the public is privy to, then anyonewho accessed that link could access the attachment. If the item is confidential, such as a personnel matter, only board members would be able to access the attached information through the link.

If the attachment or supplemental documents is confidential, a person who clicks on that link would be sent back to the login page of the Web site and would receive a message that the supporting document is confidential.

Boardmember Chris Shawasked, "How do we go down this path securely?"

He said boardmembers would likely access documents on home orwork computers that may not be secure.

Board President Joseph Stampe said any materials that the board discusses in closed session, such as documents pertaining to legal issues,would not be sharedwith the board through the Web. He said just as board members don't usually receive such materials in themeeting packets sent home to them, they would continue to get those documents atmeetings. He noted that even sensitive materials are ultimately made public andwould then go up on theWeb site for better public access.

Board member Elizabeth Trent noted, "So we would be using two pieces of paper instead of 40 pieces of paper."

Board members would start using laptops during board meetings.

Superintendent of Schools Dick Fitzpatrick said the district wouldn't have to buy new laptops. He said the board would use the laptops from one of the stations in the schools.

Stampe said a paperless programwould result in a significant savings to the school district.

Chaddha said the bottom line in going paperless ismoney. He said costs will be reduced because the board would no longer have to print copies of all documents for all board members, nor more copies if those documents are updated.

"With this, it's just a couple of clicks and you're there," he said.

Chaddha also said the paperless system provides easier access to information, promotes accuracy by reducing human error and decreases the need for storage space in the school district and in board members' homes.

"In the long run it's also a huge savings in postage and time involved," he said.

Stampe added, "It's also a green issue."

Chaddha said his department would provide user training to boardmembers.He said he would like to see the board do a trial run of a paperlessmeeting inAugust, when school is not in session and to see an official launch of such a program in September or October.