Dist. 204 going paperless, saving trees - and arms

Seizing the opportunity to provide taxpayers more transparency and save a few trees, Indian Prairie Unit District 204 board members Monday went paperless.

Board members unanimously agreed to subscribe to BoardDocs Electronic School Board Document Management Solutions, meaning within about three months, members will no longer have to lug inches-thick packets to and from meetings. All of that information will instantly be available to them, and everyone else, on their laptops, PDAs and other electronic communication tools.

"Obviously I've had a little bit of reluctance moving into the 21st century, but I think the most amazing aspect of this proposal is the transparency aspect," said board member Curt Bradshaw. "This is a tremendous opportunity to provide transparency to our taxpayers and provide them the opportunity to provide us input and advice in advance of the meeting regarding things on the agenda and be able to follow along better during the meeting as well."

Chief Information Officer David Zolnier told board members Monday he would contact the company and begin working out specific details regarding any hardware the district needs and would work to get the district up and running electronically in the next two to three months. Zolnier estimated the program will cost about $1,000 to set up and about $11,000 annually for the service.

Along with all meeting information being made digital and accessible, district staff have supported the program as well, saying an electronic format will make it easier and faster to make last-minute changes to a large number of documents in a shorter period of time.

"I think there's several advantages, not only in transparency but also from a historical perspective," Superintendent Stephen Daeschner said. "People will be able to get into those documents, and it will give our public more opportunity to hold us accountable and I appreciate that."

Neighboring Naperville Unit District 203 implemented the same system in August.

According to Dist. 203's Web site, it is using electronic distribution to "replace the old method of compiling, printing, binding and distributing a limited number of paper Board of Education meeting documents."