By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
USD 428 Assistant Superintendent John Popp called a potential contract with Nex-Tech for phone service a "long-term, rent-to-own" type of contract. On Monday, the board of education approved the 96-month contract at $7,357 a month. Popp said it will be a complete overhaul of the school's phone system.
"They provide all the hardware upfront," he said. "We have an agreement with them for x number of years. At the end of those years, we will have paid for all of our hardware and everything. We'll be able to reevaluate if we want to just extend service or if we need new hardware at that point as well."
The current phone system is routed through Great Bend High School, so if that building loses power, the entire district loses phone service. The new system will include new phones, new cabling, and a more secure network. If a building loses power, those calls will be rerouted to the district office. If the entire district loses power, calls can be rerouted to personal phones. The 8-year contract carries a total price tag of $706,272 but will be paid over the 96 months.
"With the move over to the new building for our district office, we were going to have to update phones," Popp said. "It was going to be tens of thousands of dollars just in new phones for an old system. I really prefer this option to move forward with."
The system will be similar to networks used by Barton Community College and the city of Great Bend. With Monday's board approval, Popp expects installation to begin as administrative staff makes the move to the new education center on the 281 Bypass this summer.