Fulton Schools May Add System To See Who’s Printing What, Where

by Contributor | December 2, 2010 9:34 am

Would you believe that there are more than 485 printers and copiers in the Fulton City School District?

That fact is just one of many little surprises in a report on how the district’s staff gets its printing done, as the district makes a big move to bring its printing costs under control.

“There’s no way to track or record what’s being printed,” Stephanie Maturo told the Board of Education recently.  She’s overseeing the effort to get a handle on the printing issue and its costs.

Printing is rising, which means the cost of printing is rising, too.

Teachers are printing more information found online for their classes.  In addition, some textbooks have become electronic documents such as pdfs.  It means more paper, more ink, and more money.

Board members heard about a proposed change to a new printing system.  The Pharos Blueprint system from Xerox will, Maturo said, “track every copy or print job.”

It will allow officials to see exactly who is printing document and how much they’re printing.  It can break down printing by machine, department, building and person.

Maturo said the system will also work with the scannable ID badges that district employees may soon use as part of the security upgrades across the district.

She said the system could cut costs by 30%.

A 4 year lease of the system would cost $143,514.  The district would pay about $20,000 of that amount, with the rest being reimbursed by state aid.

Board member Brian Hotaling hoped the system would not be used “punitively”.  Superintendent of Schools Bill Lynch said “it’s a matter of changing behavior” in the printing habits of staff members.

The board could act on the proposal at its next meeting, in less than two weeks.

Source URL: https://oswegocountytoday.com/news/fulton/fulton-schools-may-add-system-to-see-whos-printing-what-where/

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