CHESHIRE -- Persistent technology issues at Hoosac Valley Middle & High School have officials thinking they were maybe dealt a rotten Apple.
The $406,000 bundle of computers, purchased from the company in August during the building's $40 million renovation, has yet to be properly networked, despite the efforts of visiting Apple engineers and Adams-Cheshire Regional School District (ACRSD) technology staff.
"It's January and we've been working almost on a daily basis with these people," said ACRSD Technology Coordinator Peter Breen at last week's technology subcommittee meeting. "Three engineers from Apple stood in my room and said ‘I don't know.' "
All 24 computers in the library go to a "gray-screen," an inactive loading screen, shortly after login -- a number that has grown since the school year began -- and some machines in the building's other computer labs have similar issues.
With Apple engineers' failure to work out the bugs, the company's now prescribed a visit from representatives of their software contractors, Java Media Framework, to be scheduled this month.
"It may be getting those 24 working or it may be come back with 24 [new] machines, but we want a fully functioning lab in the library," Breen said.
Referring to the school's 3-year warranty with Apple for both software and hardware, Breen added: "Until they're networked, [Apple] hasn't fulfilled the warranty or the marketing commitment. I
Various backup options were also discussed at last week's meeting, which included downgrading from operating system OS X Mountain Lion -- Apple's newest and the one being used at Hoosac -- and switching out the whole lot of computers in favor of PCs.
In the meantime, Breen and Superintendent Kristen Gordon want it made known to parents and staff that the problem isn't with district staff.
"It's not an internal issue," Gordon said in an interview Monday.
Breen added, "It's not something we can just physically correct; it has to be done on the corporate level."
Breen also said at the meeting that other schools have experienced similar issues and downgraded to Mac OS X Leopard, an operating system released five years earlier.
To reach Phil Demers, email
pdemers@thetranscript.com.
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