In addition, Sentinel will charge $255 per hour for all support services outside of the scope of the contract, regardless of whether they are performed during normal business hours or not. Sentinel will also offer the option for the district to extend the agreement for year six at the $3.5 million rate, per the board’s approval.
Lawrence said these services will include internet management and some fixes for devices like Chromebooks. The district now has internal IT members too, and Lawrence said they will work together.
“There’s kind of a partnership between us having our internal people to check and balance the external partner that we have,” he said.
The previous IT service was through Cincinnati Bell Technology Solutions. Lawrence said the last time CBTS bid on the project, the submitted bid for these services was around $20 million.
Lawrence said the district asked for new bids for these services after he came in as business manager in September 2022, and asked for a second round of bids later. Sentinel won in that second round, Lawrence said. The district has been discussing Sentinel Technologies at board meetings since November.
This information doesn’t impact payroll or human resources, Lawrence said.
District staff said supplemental pay for coaches and other staff wasn’t paid on time on Jan. 19, and the district says it is working to make sure that doesn’t happen again.
Lawrence said he wanted the public to know that this was a way the district is making sure they are properly spending tax funds.
“Most school districts, including ours, we don’t want to give a monopoly to any one company,” Lawrence said. “We want that company to stay competitive and continue to bid the process so we can reevaluate what services we’ll get and how we’re getting them.”
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