Worcester Schools Spending $18k on New Cellphones

Saturday, June 30, 2012

Walter Bird Jr., GoLocalWorcester Reporter

The Worcester Public Schools are getting nearly 400 new cell phones in July, including 90 iPhones. School Committee members are among those who will be offered free upgrades from their old phones, but not all are interested in getting one.

Cell Phone Cost

The iPhones will cost $199 each - a total of $17,910, according to Brian Allen, the schools' chief financial and operations officer. While Verizon is providing 300 phones for free, and the return of existing Android cell phones should cover the cost of the new phones, the schools' line item for telephone and data service, will increase to $400,196, a 12-percent increase over fiscal 2012. In addition to the new phones, the school department is switching to Verizon Internet service, and will have to pay for increased bandwidth, which is the source of the increased costs. The switch takes place July 1 and the new phones will be issued by then.

The schools will pay an average annual cell phone bill of $56.57 per phone - or about $4.71 a month each. That price could be even lower, according to Allen, because the schools' rate with Verizon is expected to go down July 1. At most some bills are expected to be around $90 a year, including the data plan. Allen said the deal is good for three years, the length of the contract. It adds up to $22,062.30 a year - on average - and more than $66,000 over three years. Some school officials believe any amount, no matter how small, could be used to improve students’ education.

Every Dollar Counts

“When you look at a budget, nothing is small,” School Committee member Dianna Biancheria said of opposing the money for phones. “Every dollar and cent matters, especially when it’s tax dollars.”

Biancheria said she will not accept a new phone, because “I have my own phone. I don’t need one.”

Another committee member, Donna Colorio, also said she will refuse a new phone. Colorio said she pushed to require those who are provided a cell phone to pay the bill out of pocket, but received little support among committee members.

“I can afford $56.57 a year,” Colorio said. As far as she is concerned, $22,000 could pay for a tutor, an area in which she thinks the school is lacking. “It’s just very frustrating that we have this in the budget.”

School Committee member Brian O’Connell’s issue with the phones was more of a practical matter.

“The superintendent was anxious that administrators and principals have access on an emergency basis,” O’Connell said. “A cell phone certainly is a mechanism of doing so. There is a question, however, as to whether the administrators will use the phone on non-school hours and are accessible during those hours. If cell phones are not activated on evenings and weekends, there’s an internal issue.”

O’Connell said he has no issue with providing cell phones to staff members, “especially for an emergency situation.”

No new costs

Allen reiterated the hope that turning over the old phones would offset the cost of new ones.

“Actually,” said Allen, “we expect that the switchover to all new equipment will be completely cost neutral to the district. All current cellular devices must be turned in and they are being e-recycled through a different third party and we expect the amount generated will cover all new equipment cost.”

The low cost for cell phone plans is part of a state contract rate that is based on student poverty rate and adjusted by individual school district, according to Allen. Ttemtphe rate applies to the school district. An at

As for who exactly will be getting the new phones, Allen said that list is still being finalized and won’t be available for several weeks. He said the overall increase in the telephone and data service line item (the fiscal 2012 budget is $357,424 compared to $400,196 for fiscal 2013) is related to different factors.

“The reason for the increase in this account is twofold,” said Allen. “First, we are increasing Internet bandwidth service to schools from 150mb to 300mb and the transfer of costs for certain school-based phones from the schools’ budgets to the district budget.”

While he did not have specific names of who will be provided phones, Allen said the iPhones would be made available to school principals, certain central office staff, information technology and repair staff and School Committee members who opt for one. The remaining 300 will be distributed to school administrators, school adjustment and guidance counselors, facilities nutrition and special education staff.

Asked why the school district didn’t opt for less expensive phones instead of iPhones, Allen said other devices were tested and dismissed because of poor battery life, platform consistency and available applications, among other reasons.

“We fully stand by the decision from both a financial investment (little to no net cost to budget) and a technological investment for better service (including both our decision to switch from Sprint to Verizon and from an Android phone to the iPhone),” Allen said.

Mayor's Support

Mayor and School Committee Chairman Joseph Petty said the phones are a wise investment, saying, “A lot of phones were being used by people who really need them. The superintendent talked about the last ice storm and how the only way to get in touch with people was by cell phone. I don’t think it’s a big issue at all.”

O’Connell agreed – to a point.

“They serve a purpose as long as the administration is insisting on access during non-school hours,” he said. “If this administration is not doing that, then the phones are useless.”

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