On Feb. 19 the Mukilteo School District will ask voters to approve a construction bond, which includes upgrading the computer network that ties our schools together. This T1 infrastructure was installed 15 years ago when the population of the district was much lower and students and teachers had very little access to computers.

Current students and teachers rely heavily on computers as they perform daily activities and a high-speed fiber optic network is needed to support these activities. Today’s students search an online catalog for library books, process reports that often include information from online databases or other resources, and make presentations using Powerpoint and other computer-based tools. They store their best work in electronic “e-folios” and use computers to present the culminating projects that are required for graduation.

Staff members use computers to store student information, take attendance, record grades and communicate with each other. During instruction teachers use computer projectors, document cameras, interactive white boards, and the Internet to enhance lessons.

The deficiencies of the current network are visible daily at my high school. Our network is slow, computer logins take several minutes, Internet access becomes noticeably slower as more students log on to the network, and videos and streaming media are not available because the network capacity and storage are inadequate.

Please vote yes for the school bond on Feb. 19, and provide a faster, higher capacity network to support the continued growth and excellence of our schools.

Peggy Nystrom

Librarian

Mariner High School