Daily Jefferson County Union
JEFFERSON — Paper reports, handouts and worksheets will be less prevalent in the Jefferson schools in the future, but the district still expects to make a lot of copies and printouts in the coming years.
With that in mind, the School District of Jefferson Board of Education gave its approval Monday to a new 55-month lease agreement with James Imaging for copiers and service.
Jason Poeppel, IT director for the Jefferson schools, said that the district just completed a five-year pact with Ricoh, and during the interim had extended that agreement on a month-to-month basis while obtaining new bids for printer leasing, toner and service.
The district was looking for a lower cost per print and reliable service.
Poeppel said that the district stipulated a 55-month lease so the new term would coincide with the end of the official school year on June 30, making the accounting easier.
Six vendors submitted bids. While Ricoh again ended up in the top three, James Imaging of Brookfield came in with the lowest cost overall, combining the equipment and service, and Poeppel recommended the district go with James.
Laura Peachey, district director of business services, called the proposed pact “budget-favorable.”
The contract calls for $2,582.10 per month plus $0.0027 and $0.04 per black-and-white and color copy, respectively. The number of pages copies are expected to drop by 5 percent.
The savings is expected to be $700 per month on the copiers $1,700 per month on the service, based on the reduced cost per page.
Poeppel said he expects copying costs to go down in the future as the district adds technology and more classes go “paperless.”
He said that the elementary schools will continue to be paper-heavy, but some subjects such as auto lab are able to function entirely without printouts. read more here