Page 3 - School Planning & Management, April 2018

NEWS & VIEWS \{ FACILITIES | SECURITY | TECHNOLOGY | BUSINESS \} New Ella T. Grasso
Technical High in Connecticut
Ask the Expert
This Month
Network Communications
HOW CAN WE MOVE
TO NETWORK-BASED
COMMUNICATION?
MANY SCHOOLS RIGHTLY SEE network-based distributed communication—moving paging, intercom, and bells to the LAN away from separate hard-wired analog systems—as a way to increase efficiency, flexibility, safety, and even space. Replacing huge paging amps, redundant wiring, and 70-volt speakers with a server, a software interface, and a variety of flexible IP-addressable endpoints has numerous advan- tages. The most basic include giving office staff the power to set up different bell schedules for different zones, turn them off on the weekend, and make changes anytime with a few clicks.
Schools can also gain safety functional-
ity they never had before: panic buttons in classrooms, silent alerts, and instant triggering of lockdowns and all-clears from the office
or even a mobile device. Integrating all these methods of communication under a single platform is a big plus.
But it’s not an impulse buy. The time to move to a modern school communication platform isn’t when your current analog amp goes down. This takes planning—and not just at the individual school level.
Most districts want standardization throughout their schools. Clearly, continuing
to standardize on 1960s technology is not ac- ceptable, but making a sweeping district-wide upgrade to IP-based systems is daunting. A more realistic approach is to build the new digital standard into new construction projects, then bring older schools up to that IP-based standard over time. This ensures you’re designing for
the future rather than digitizing old habits
and forces a district-wide approach to daily communications and safety protocols you can implement methodically over a number of years.
It’s a big task, but very worthwhile, and fortunately there are experienced profession- als to help you execute a successful plan.
>>Jaime Mendez serves as architectural consultant at FrontRow. He can be reached at JAIM@gofrontrow.com.
>> Construction is underway for the new Ella T. Grasso Technical High School in Groton, Conn. The 226,000-square-foot facility, designed by Moser Pilon Nelson Archi- tects, is being built on a parcel contiguous to the existing technical high school. When the school opens for the 2019-20 school year, the existing facility will be demolished to make room for future athletic fields and facilities. The new building will enable the student en- rollment to grow to over 800 students and to do so in a facility with instruction in a dozen skilled trades. The $98-million project is scheduled to be completed in June of 2019.
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APRIL 2018 / SCHOOL PLANNING & MANAGEMENT 3