Midland Park June 4, 2014 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • Page 7 Board awards contracts for tech, security upgrades Carrying the torch Kevin Carruthers (center) holds up the torch that was passed from town to town during this year’s Torch Run, an annual fundraiser for the NJ Special Olympics. The Midland Park resi- dent is a veteran of multiple Special Olympics competitions. To his left are his father, Rich Carruthers (far left) and Midland Park Police Officer Ken Junta. To Kevin’s right are Midland Park Police Officers Chris Birch, Mark Berninger Jr., Thomas Bedoe, and Jason Tillson. District-wide computer and secu- rity upgrades and high school bleacher replacement moved closer to reality last week as the Midland Park Board of Edu- cation approved contracts for the long awaited projects. All are expected to be done over the summer and be in place by the September school opening. The technology improvements include the purchase of one more computer on wheels (COW) for each Highland School and MPHS at a total cost of $113,949.98, including cabling, equipment and labor .The network upgrades will be purchased from Cisco Capital through a 36-month lease agreement at 0 percent financing. The annual payment will be $37,983. Trustee Robert Schiffer, the board’s finance committee chairman, said the upgrades were needed for students to be able to take the state PARCC (Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers) assessment tests next year. The PARCC tests are computer based, taken online, unlike the current pencil and paper tests. A COW is a self-contained portable unit of 30 or more laptop comput- ers that can be wheeled into a classroom or testing area as needed. Additional security cameras and auto- matic door locks will complete the two- phase security package begun in March, 2013 for all three school buildings, accord- ing to Schiffer. The contract will go to Global Systems Integrators at a total cost of $66,520.95. Funds for the project came from the 2012-13 and the 2013-14 operat- ing budgets, he said. The contract for the installation of new bleachers in the high school gym will go to Degler-Whiting, Inc. through a co- operative contract. The $75,000 cost will include installation and disposal of the old bleachers. The funds will come from the 2012-13 extraordinary aid state alloca- tion. The new bleachers, manufactured by Interkal, will hold approximately 424 people. They will be of steel framing con- struction with resin-covered wood plank- ing for seating. The board also approved the purchase of a district-wide cafeteria point of service system for $14,440. The funds will come from the district lunch account. Schiffer explained that the computerized cash reg- ister program is now required by the state so that all lunch program reports can be sent in electronically instead of using register tapes. He said this is particularly important to receive state reimbursement for free or reduced lunches.