By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
The Hays school board will meet in a special session at 7 a.m. Thursday to vote on new copier bid.
The board had a lengthy discussion about the bid at a meeting May 21 but did not approve the bid.
The discussion revolved around the number of copiers used by the district and the number of copies made by the district annually.
Administration is recommending a low bid from Sumner One for a five-year contract for $52,221. This is $12,994 less than the district’s last contract.
The district is making about 5 million copies annually. That is about 2 million copies less than several years ago. The district has made a push to eliminate the use of printers and printed materials from the remaining printers in the district as the printers are more costly to operate than copiers, Superintendent John Thissen said.
The district is also urging staff to send orders for printed materials to the copy center at the administration center. The large copy units produce copies cheaper than the smaller copiers at schools. There are two large units at the copy center and 21 other smaller units throughout the district.
The district kept some printers because it needed to have a secure means of printing confidential IEPs. However, the new copier system will allow staff to hold printed materials in the copier queues and then print the material with the swipe of their staff badges. This will allow the district to maintain the confidentiality of these documents.
The new contract will allow the district to further decrease the number of copies made and in turn the amount of the contract by 10 percent per year for each year of the contract.
Board member Greg Schwartz said he thought the district needs to further reduce the number of copies, the number of copiers and work toward a paperless system.
Schwartz said he would feel more comfortable if the contract was for a shorter term.
However, Tracy Kaiser, director of finance, said a shorter contract would cost the district more.
Board member Mandy Fox said if copiers were less accessible it might decrease use at the building level.
Board president Lance Bickle said he thought the district was moving in the right direction in terms of reducing copies, but thought the district could be more aggressive.
The company the administration is recommending also offers a software package that tracks the number of copies made by individuals users. Thissen said by tracking copies, the district hopes it further could work with staff to reduce copies.
Board members said they favored contracting with Sumner One for this tracking software, but it was unclear from the bid sheet whether the bid included the software package. Several board members said they wished to know if the bid included the tracking software before they approved it.
The district’s current copier contract ends at the end of June. If the board does nothing, the company with the current contract will pull all the copiers in the district by June 30. At minimum, that would put a halt to work at the copy center, which is busy during the summer preparing materials for the next school year.
The board is also set to consider IDEA VI-B application assurances and certifications, an Early Childhood Connections one-time funding request and ECC COLA grant.