LISD Technology Center

LISD Technology Center

By Mark Collins Friday, 17 October 2008

Leander Independent School District technology employees began the school year in a new 2,500 sq. ft. space at the corner of S. West Street and Municipal Drive.

“This is the type of facility every medium-to-large school district is going to need,” Technology Director Scott Monroe said. “If your network shuts down, your school district goes down.”

The technology center’s server room is a critical part of the network and is, therefore, protected by a fingerprint-activated door. Once inside, the grated floor is raised 2 feet off the ground to allow circulation and facilitate the statically charged air that comes out of the floor to keep servers cool.

The center of the building houses an emergency command center with 9-inch cement walls and a 6-inch ceiling that can withstand a tornado with winds up to 200 miles per hour. The command center is designed to hold district administrators and allow communications to continue during an emergency. The room holds up to 20 people and has television, phone, computer and radio access.

Should the power go out, the facility can operate in a limited capacity by two on-site natural gas generators that can run for an unlimited amount of time — as long as they receive fuel.

“It is a stout building because it is protecting a lot of assets,” Monroe said. “District leadership and FEMA [Federal Emergency Management Agency] need to know they’ll have power, and they will.”

The building also allowed the district to centralize technology staff rather than spreading them across several different buildings as it had in the past. The staff area has an open, industrial look with diffused lighting designed to reduce eyestrain.

“It has finally given the employees a good workspace to work out of,” Monroe said. “We were able to keep the teams together instead of spreading them out, which means better communication and more efficiency.”

The facility also has conference space for district use that can be split into multiple rooms. Two training labs filled with computers and desks can be used for furthering teacher education and computer classes.

The $6.13 million building was funded by the 2006 bond package and takes into account the district’s growth over the next 10 years. There is ample room for new employees and several empty rooms that can be built out to accommodate new teams.

Monroe called the building “one of the first of its kind,” and it is so high-tech that the City of Cedar Park, Round Rock ISD and Pflugerville ISD have all toured the facility in preparation for building their own technology centers.

“This facility is very durable, secure and functional. We’re very proud of it and happy to be in here,” Monroe said.