By KARI BLURTON
Hays Post

When school begins next week, Hays USD 489 students and faculty will not have to worry about the frustration of being kicked off the Internet several times a day.

District Technology Director Brian Drennon was tasked with installing a new technology infrastructure and wireless upgrade over the summer.

At Monday’s school board meeting, he told board members he has been testing the new system at Hays High School and, while there is still some work to be finished throughout the district, he expects all systems to be ready by Friday.

“I keep a good eye on it as everybody is coming back in, so we have had a pretty good load on it. We haven’t had an issue,” Drennon said. “I do not expect any issues, but I expect some fine-tuning once school starts.”

At a board retreat in May, principals and teachers throughout the district reported losing valuable teaching time due to being kicked off the old system constantly, forcing them to log back on to the Internet several times a day.

The $183,600 upgrade was budgeted with capital outlay funds from the 2013-14 school year.