BUTLER TWP — In a cost-saving measure, the Butler School District may outsource its technology department, an option delivered by a technology consultant in a recent review.

At a meeting Monday, Mike Strutt, superintendent, said administrators would meet with Questeq from Coraopolis, and two other technology consulting firms to discuss outsourcing all or part of the department, depending on costs.

“We need to get the people first, look at what we have and then set a direction for where we go,” said Strutt. “We are not alone. Many school districts that have budgetary constraints are in the same position.”

As many as seven jobs may be transferred or outsourced.

School administrators said existing computer support specialist positions would have to stay through 2017, per their union contract. Managerial positions are not covered by the same contract, said Brian Slamecka, assistant superintendent.

In its analysis, Questeq told district officials and the school board that the district should fill its open director of technology position, refocus the technology staff job descriptions, create a media support specialist, and streamline its help desk and service structures.

“We want to hear from the different companies what their proposals are,” said Strutt.

School officials said they would meet with at least two other firms, Open Arc of Wexford and Consensus Technologies of Cranberry Township. No meeting dates were discussed.

Some school board members criticized Questeq’s push for expenditures on mobile technology that was included in its report.

“I think we need to step back as a school district and not get too excited that we don’t have an iPad in the hands of every student,” said John Conrad, a school board member who is also a principal design engineer at Westinghouse Electric. “I’ve found most people don’t need the best of the best.”

“There was not one positive thing that he said,” agreed Don Pringle, board president, referring to Jeffrey Main, Questeq chief executive officer.

Strutt said Questeq’s assessment would be shared with other technology consultants, but that school administrators would determine how technology would be used in classrooms.

“Most of them do not have an educational vision,” said Carolyn Cornish, assistant superintendent. “They’re tech people.”

Right now, the district is piloting the use of iPads in 20 classrooms, said Slamecka. A dozen are special education classrooms with nearly a one-to-one ratio of iPads to students, he said. Eight other teachers are using iPads as instructional tools.

“As they walk around the room a teacher can hand (an iPad) to a student to (interact) with a smart board or display,” Slamecka said. “It’s another tool to get students engaged.”

Butler also plans to continue to fulfill a three-year plan adopted in December 2012 to replace 904 computer processors, or CPUs, in all the district’s elementary and secondary schools’ computer labs and libraries, Slamecka said. It does not include 350 computers used by teachers.

Under the plan, the district replaced about 124 CPUs in elementary schools in January. Over the summer, 243 CPUs at the junior and senior high schools will be switched. Other rounds of replacements are scheduled for September, January and September 2014 and January 2015.

The CPUs are being purchased from Open Arc for $399 each. Open Arc also supplied the district’s recent $710,366 telecommunications upgrade. The upgrade included network improvements as well as an internet-based telephone system.