Newer Technology Means Less Paperwork

For Newtown Schools

By Eliza Hallabeck

A new deal, which was approved by the Board of Education last week, with Pitney Bowes and Sharp’s Open Systems and Architecture (OSA) will allow parents to obtain quicker information on their students without the use of paper.

The copy machines currently in use in the Newtown public schools will be replaced over the summer by new machines with a wider range of ability. The contract with Pitney Bowes, which supplied the current machines for the schools, is not up for reevaluation until March, but the company was willing to terminate it and enter into a new contract.

The new machines will have the ability to print, fax, make copies, and scan images to computers. Ronald Bienkowski, the district business manager, said the new technology is a step forward for the school district.

 “I have what I consider a fleet of copy machines,” said Mr Bienkowski, but, he added, some of them are old. Over the last year, he said, he has been speaking with OSA, and between his office and the company a new contract was agreed upon.

At last week’s Board of Education meeting Mr Bienkowski presented the contract, and the board unanimously approved it. As of July 1, the new contract will be active, and new machines should be in place by the end of July.

“This will be a good step to doing business in a more effective and productive way,” Mr Bienkowski, said by phone.

Mr Bienkowski said the machines will cut back on the amount of paper being used by the schools, and they will also make the cost of production less. During the Board of Education meeting, Mr Bienkowski said the new machines will save the town $145,000 over the course of the contract.

They will also help parents get a quicker response to questions about their children. For instance, if a parent wanted to see a note a teacher wrote about his or her child, a school representative would only have to scan the image and send it via e-mail to the parent.

During the meeting, many members discussed how much this will minimize the amount of paperwork produced by the schools.

“I think this is great,” said Board Member David Nanavaty. “Better quality, better machines.”

School Superintendent Janet Robinson said the longest kept records are student records, which are kept for 50 years. Paperwork that is currently taking up space may soon be taking up hard drive space instead, according to Dr Robinson.

With the addition of these new machines new storage for information will be looked into further this summer, said Dr Robinson.