Millions in new technology, furniture at UCDSB schools

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The English public school board is starting the year off with a multi-million-dollar spend on technology and other equipment in an aim to upgrade its facilities for students.

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The Upper Canada District School Board announced it spent more than $5.2 million on technology equipment and furniture, including drones, and computers for 68 classrooms throughout the region, at its board of trustees meeting this week.

Specifically, the spending will benefit 40 elementary school and 28 secondary school classrooms, the board said. Those classrooms will see upgrades in the form of 1,800 new desktop computers and 730 laptops for student use, along with “new furniture to provide more flexible learning spaces.”

“Our goal is not to have every student to have a school device; it’s to have them as tools when they need them, when they’re available,” director of education Ron Ferguson said at the board meeting this week.

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Also included in the upgrades will be 3D printers, a drone pilot program, school network upgrades and office phone system replacements, plus laptop charging carts, new teacher laptops and a loaner device program for replacement and occasional staff.

One of the most significant costs came with upgrading the school’s tools and equipment for all secondary school tech shops, Ferguson said, with an investment of $900,000.

“That’s got to be the biggest single-year investment in our tech programs probably two decades or maybe more.”

The multi-million-dollar spending is “part of the school board’s goal to engage students, staff and community partners in real-world learning and enhanced pathways,” the school board wrote in a release.

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The school board was in a deficit position just three years ago, but Ferguson said “sound financial planning” over the last few years enabled them to achieve a surplus and make these investments.

“As a result of sound financial planning, we were able to make these additional investments at the end of the last school year. We are fortunate to have a board of trustees that planned for and fully supported these actions,” Ferguson said.

“The implementation of these purchases and upgrades are just the beginning. We have innovative and ambitious goals defined in our overall strategic plans for our school board that we are looking forward to achieving. We want to encourage our schools to continue with this thinking and we will work with them at the central level to carry out real-world learning activities and innovative opportunities.”  

This information was first shared as part of the director’s update to the board of trustees at the first meeting of the school year.