The Bethlehem Area School District is looking at a district wide overhaul of its wireless infrastructure system. The Finance Committee heard plans about the overhaul at a recent meeting.

According to the district's Chief Information Officer Rick Wilson, also a senior consultant at Weidenhammer headquartered in Wyomissing, there are about 500 wireless Internet access points throughout the 22 district buildings. The upgrade would provide teachers, students and staff with 1,200 access points to the Internet.

Wilson explained that there are several problems with the current system. For instance, there is typically one access point per 30 students. When several people each using their own iPad, cell phone or computer try to gain Internet access through one point, the system slows. This bottlenecking can be a problem if a classroom of students needs to access the Internet in order to complete an assignment, take a test or participate in a multi-room online class. In addition to there not being enough access points, they are not located where all teachers can access them easily, he said.

Another problem concerns going from one building to another. Every time a person goes from one district site to another site, the district's information technology department has to add that user to the system at the other site. In the past when the only equipment linked to the Internet was the school's computers, this was doable, but this system isn't practical any more with the numerous portable devices used today.

"The current systemis holding us back significantly," said Mark Stein, director of Facilities and Operations.

The access points are located in the ceiling; only about 112 of them are worth keeping, Wilson said. The infrastructure project would require additional wiring in order to add more access points. Since the work would be very disruptive to classes, it would have to be done during the summer break and would require hiring a contractor in order to get the project completed in all 23 schools and district buildings in three months.

Wilson expects the project to cost about $2.2 million, which would include the hardware, controllers and licensing. This includes using a software called ClearPass, which would allow a person to easily access the Internet from one site to the next after an initial enrollment.

Superintendent Dr. Joseph Roy asked if there is an industry guideline for budgeting for a project of this type.

Wilson said 2 percent to 4 percent should be budgeted, but the district doesn't have the revenue.

"The big question is, 'Where are we going to get the $2.2 million?'" Roy said.

Wilson said he is hoping the school district would qualify for a federal E-Rate grant to help pay for at least some of the project. The upgrade is already factored into the design of the new Nitschmann Middle School, he included.

"This is so fundamental," he said, "to say no to this would be like saying no to books."

As far as any hard savings, Wilson said he doesn't have a number. At this point, the main savings would be quicker uploads, less dependency on the information technology department, and more ease in the classroom.

"The future is a cloud-based, web-based system," he said.

Instead of schools providing computers, the future is allowing for a bring-your-own-device system where students use their own iPads, cell phones and laptops for Internet access.

"We will be able to do it in the future," he said. "Right now, it would swamp the system."

The project isn't really one of "Will it happen?", but more so that it "Has to happen," Wilson said.