CHESHIRE -- Town officials requested overdue information technology (IT) assistance from Adams-Cheshire Regional School District (ACRSD) at Tuesday night's Selectmen's meeting.
The discussion pertained to 15 laptops that two Cheshire Elementary School employees received in a grant over a year ago.
Since then, the computers have been stored in boxes at the school, yet to be networked or installed with the necessary student programs by ACRSD IT staff. Lack of time was named as a reason for the lag in getting the computers up and running.
At the meeting, Selectwoman Carol Francesconi said she's notified a member of the ACRSD school committee of the computer issue, and that the school's principal, Peter Bachli, would also like to see the resources put to use.
"When our kids are supposed to be computer literate, it's not right to have 15 computers sitting in boxes," Francesconi said.
Selectmen hoped the town's only school wouldn't be forgotten in the shuffle, with the district focusing its energies on settling into a newly renovated Hoo sac Valley Middle & High School building, located at 125 Savoy Road.
Other IT help is available from local schools, Selectmen say, like Berkshire Community College, Massachusetts Col lege of Liberal Arts and C.H. McCann Technical School, and added that more delay could cause them to go elsewhere.
Officials suggested calling upon the district's soon-to-be new superintendent
In other business, MassBroadband 123 was granted permission by Selectmen, acting as the Conservation Commission, to work off Savoy Road on a larger project to use a fiber optic cable to expand broadband Internet throughout rural Western Massachusetts. All wetlands work associated with the project will be done by workers on foot.
MassBroadband 123 received $45.4 million of its funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, and the remaining $26.2 million was received from the state. Work on the project needs to be completed by June 30, 2013 to keep the funding.
The town is also awaiting word from the state Department of Revenue before it can set its 2013 tax rate. Officials asked for permission to issue preliminary tax bills based on last year's rate, but it has not been granted.
Though officials would like to receive an official rate, Francesconi said the board will address the issue at next week's meeting if they've still not been contacted.
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