Town-school IT consolidation approved

Andover Town Meeting in May approved a major consolidation of information technology for municipal departments and the school department, a move designed to save on equipment costs and staffing while also enhancing learning.

A key step came about a year ago, when Paul Puzzanghera was hired as the town’s first chief information officer, a position typically found only in much larger communities. Over the past year, Puzzanghera oversaw an evaluation of the town’s information technology, spread among four entities: Town Hall, the schools, the library, and public safety departments.

Town Meeting allocated $1 million to upgrade and consolidate information technology within a single department and $1.5 million to develop a “Digital Classroom” initiative. The $2.5 million allocation will be paid back through Andover’s cable-access franchise fund, according to Puzzanghera.

By eliminating redundancies, the town expects over time to reduce telecommunications costs by 50 percent and printing costs by as much as 30 percent, Puzzanghera said. Textbook expenses are also expected to decline, as schools will be in much better position to make use of online learning opportunities.

In attempting to sell the idea to Andover residents, “We didn’t talk about routers and we didn’t talk about gigabyte switches,” Puzzanghera said. “We talked about how to facilitate 21st century learning; we talked about how to streamline business processes; we talked about how to reduce risk, and how to improve customer service in the town.”

Selectman Alex Vispoli, who has championed the information technology overhaul, said that there may be opportunities for Andover to share its IT services with other communities.