WESTFIELD – The School Committee voted Monday night to pursue two five-year contracts to acquire new copiers districtwide that are less expensive than the current equipment leases and are the latest generation of technology.
Director of Technology and Business Services Ron Rix said both contracts are for Ricoh equipment, but that seven of the smaller machines are being leased through the Higher Education Consortium. The School Committee voted to authorize Superintendent Suzanne Scallion to submit that lease to the City Council, which has to approve all city contracts longer than three years.
The larger of the two five-year lease contracts is exempt from the need for City Council approval because it is being made through an existing state contract program. Rix said that he has requested City Purchaser Tammy Tefft to send a memo to the City Council explaining that lease exemption.
“There will be a savings of $300,000 over the five-year period,” Rix said. “We are also initiating a print management system that will also save money and reduce the use of paper. The projection is that there will be a 10 percent reduction in paper.”
Rix said that the equipment being leased is based upon specific needs and that in many cases one unit is replacing two, or more, machines now in use.
“This equipment fits the needs of the district better,” Rix said, “so we both fit the devices for use in specific schools and updated the equipment, increased color capabilities at a lower cost.”
Rix said the bottom line of the copier lease is that “it saves money and increases productivity” and that it meets the district’s “print solutions at a lower cost.”
The committee members questioned Rix on the cost of maintenance and supplies of ink and toner for the equipment.
Rix said that the contract includes maintenance fees, which increase over the term of the lease as the equipment ages and that toner and ink are also included in the maintenance package.
