Adding up the costs of paper, staff time and delivery, it takes a whopping $13,162 per year just to make up the informational packets that the Board of Education sends to its members before meetings and places out for the public, according to the Superintendent's office.
To cut these costs, the administration proposed that the Board of Education go paperless at a Board Finance Committee meeting Tuesday night – and members passed the measure unanimously. The resolution will go up for final approval at the board's meeting next Tuesday.
Going paperless means district staff would keep agendas and the dozens, sometimes hundreds of supporting documents per meeting in a digital format and send them to members electronically. The district would purchase an iPad for each board member to use.
For the public, these documents would be available online for download.
The first year, according to the administration's calculations, the district would spend $8,470, which includes the purchase of equipment and an information-sharing service. That would save the district about $4,692.50.
In subsequent years, the board packets would cost about $2,700, thus saving the district $10,462, according to the administration.
