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During this week's Dewey Public Schools Board of Education meeting, Superintendent Vince Vincent gave an update on the district's technology plan for the 2021 through 2023 school years.

The one-on-one Chromebook program at DPS included fourth grade classes this school year. Superintendent Vincent said they are looking to get Chromebooks into third grade classes next year. He said they will have to wait and evaluate that further before they make a decision.

Superintendent Vincent added that they are seeing the end of the life cycle with some of their devices that they have had for four years. However, DPS has received some help from Bartlesville Regional United Way and Phillips 66 in the form of a grant.

The grant allowed the district to purchase hotspots for teachers and students who may have internet connection issues at home. The ability to purchase 41 new Chromebooks was also made possible thanks to the fund DPS received. Vincent said DPS will make good use of the grant funds from the United Way and Phillips 66 on the technology front.

Training with the interactive displays that were installed in every classroom a couple years ago will continue to take place. Vincent said they will also continue to evaluate their bandwidth moving forward, but the Dewey Public Schools district is happy with what they have been able to accomplish with their current bandwidth.

A change was made with DPS' food software piece this school year. Vincent said the software coincided with the student information software the district has in place. He said the food software has worked as efficiently as the district thought it would, because it has made it easier getting information for the Child Nutrition Program.

Last on the technology report was the software that has been used for telephone and intercom communications. Vincent said the system the Dewey Public Schools Board of Education approved last summer has been successful.

In terms of the financial review, expenditures to revenue ratio has stayed the same this fiscal year for DPS compared to this time a year ago. Vincent said they are on track with where they thought they would be. He said their spending is up approximately one-percent.

Savings are being projected for Dewey Public Schools. Vincent said this is because transportation was clearly down and utilities were not being used at each school site during the COVID-19 pandemic. He said he also expects expenditures to be down and revenues up by the end of the fiscal year.

The building fund is in good shape. Vincent said they will look to improve parking lots and patch roofs sometime down the road. He said they have the carry over to do so.

Looking at funding projections, Vincent said it looks like some of the federal stimulus funding they are going to receive because of COVID-19 will offset much of the budget cut they anticipate to receive at the beginning of the 2021-2022 Fiscal Year. He said as they go through a year that they may not be able to predict, DPS is going to be cautious and conservative with their discretionary spending if there is any to spend.

Vincent said DPS is looking at over a $300,000 funding deficit next year. Add the federal stimulus funds, and there is still a reduction in funding of approximately $170,000. Vincent said he will present more on this and how they will plan to attack the funding shortfalls in their next meeting in June.