Duh!

I'm guessing these School Board Members will not be retaining those positions for very long.

Seriously. Could they engage in behavior more insane?

While it could easily be said for the US government as well, the UN is not really well known for doing anything well, or effeciently. While ICANN does have to come under the laws of the US, it would have to come under the laws of someone else, depending on what country it was based in, but at least it's got a track record for having some control over how things work.

Rule number one: Don't skimp on network drops. It's easier and cheaper to install them when you're building/finishing a facility than to try to go back later and re-run extra data lines. Ideally, plan twice as many as you think you need. Barring that, drop at least one more than you think you need in each location. The spare can be used for when you buy new equipment, add a printer, phone, etc..

Fire related equipment should be on its own separate network. Not a VLAN, it's own actual network. I've seen facilities grow, that were small in the beginning and ran fire on the same physical network as regular data. Regular data needs grew, and despite QoS settings, the fire system started getting starved for network traffic and the fire controllers were reading that they list contact with remote sensors, which triggers an alarm. Once the link is re-established a few seconds later, the alarm resets. Then a little later, you get another false alarm because it missed a check-in from a sensor.

Be generous with power drops. CNC equipment will likely need their own power, but be thoughtful about where you'll have power for various printers or workstations, anything that might need a dedicated circuit, in case a CNC were to cause a circuit breaker to trip. When you have a Server/Telecomm room, make sure it's big enough to suppor both the network rack, a telecom rack and a server rack or two. Check and double-check that you have dedicated circuits to the room for each rack you're planning to run.

Be generous with air flow in the Server/Telecomm room. It will generate more heat than you expect. Plan on it having its own, dedicated AC system.

Backup Power, plan to have it. If your phones are IP-based, you want to be able to have power for them during an outage, as well as your fire system. An onsite backup generator would be very nice. If you can't swing that, be sure to have, check, test and keep working, a good set of UPS devices to provide power during an outage.

I know you have a limited budget, but shoot for the moon, don't cut corners where you don't have to. Doing it right will serve the organization for years to come, even after you retire or move on...or have to hire more IT folks!

Kids today aren't as often following their passions in school, as much as they're trying to figure out what will be a viable, paying career when they get out. Kids need to follow their passions in education, so when they get into the world of work, they're doing something they love and what they do is better because they're there doing it.

That said, before we go pouring money into the education system, I think it's time to ask: What should a graduate look like? What skills should they have?

Today's K12 system was designed to produce workers who were capable and rounded to fit into the Industrial Age. Industry is leaving the US, we're becoming an economy based on the Knowledge Age, and we need workers who are Knowledge Workers, not Industrial Workers.. (Unless, of course, industry is where their passion is, in which case they'll likely need to move abroad to use those skills and follow that passion.)

Maybe we should figure out what our K12 Public Schools should look like, in order to produce a viable Knowledge Worker before we invest heavily into our Public Education. Don't get me wrong, I'm a Proponent of Public Education. Currently there aren't any viable for-profit organizations who are able to regularly turn a profit for providing K12 education to the masses. I'm not sure why anyone would want to privatize something that's going to lose money. Even if they were, they would still need to figure out what sort of education system they were going to have if they're going to turn out viable Knowledge Workers from it.

We should plan, plan, consider, re-plan and plan a little more before we pour money into an endevor that will have a direct impact on the future of our children, our nation and our world.

If you were going to pay compesations, you could give it in tax credits, meaning he didn't have to pay taxes on the next specified amount of money. Then tax payers aren't actually paying out money, they're just not receiving his portion of money.

He'd file taxes as usual, then instead of having to may his share, he just keeps that money until they've effectively paid him his compensation.

I like the idea of this sort of mission being manned. A new lease and reason for expanding the ISS, giving it new life, new purpose. Imagine shuttling back and forth, retrieving satelites, taking them back to the ISS for repair and refurbishment, upgrades and updates, then deployed back into orbit for a new lifetime with extended capabilities, even from a simple firmware upgrade.

However, I suspect that may not be as cost effective. However, I just like the idea of having more of the humann element in orbital activities. That's just the generation I come from.

I could be wrong, but wasn't retrieving and repairing satelites one of the goals of the Shuttle Program?

Hire someone because they fit the group and either have technical skills, or are capable of learning them... If they have all the best skills, but don't fit in the group, they're not the right hire. You can train skills, you can't train them to be happy and functional in an existing group.

It depends on what form this school is taking their materials. If they're pretty much doing away with text books in favor of mulit-media based materials, then you need some way for the students (reguardless of age level) to access the materials. He probably could have easily asked which tablet should they use. More and more schools are looking at things like iPads to replace their text books, to give students access to materials that include much more up-to-date and media-rich content.

While it's all good and fine that a state like VT has banned Fracking in their state, but I think I would be more concerned about what happens when a neighboring state allows Fracking and the results of it crosses state lines, causing issues that way. Is a simple, "Ooops, sorry. Our bad," going to cut it? I suspect not.

I don't think I'll be surprised if Fracking in OK sets of a fault like the New Madrid, causing isses across between 3 and 5 states.

Fracking is a neat technological idea, but I think will cause more problems that we'd like to see as a result.

In all seriousness, you could probably put together a slimline system and wall-mounting hardware, LCD screen with wall-mount and simple web cam to do what you want. However, I suspect you're going to pay more than $399 for the hardware and $5 for the mount.

It seems like the most cost effective version is the iPad2 (http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/shop_ipad/family/ipad/select_ipad2) with a 3M Jumbo hook (http://www.amazon.com/Command-17004-Plastic-Adhesive-Strips/dp/B00006IBLN) to solve your problem. Plus, the added benefit that you'll use the iPad later or in other places when not being used in the evening, while a wall-mounted unit will not be as likely to be moved and used elsewhere.

Just my $0.02. Good luck!

You need to align what you're doing in IT, to student achievement. If what you're doing improves student achievement, then it'll be very hard to say 'no' to letting you do your job. When going around you doesn't improve student achievement, or improves it less than the way you do it, they'll realize they need to let you do your job. Public Schools are about student achievement, first and foremost.

Depending on what state you're in, Public Schools have to go out to bid on any signifigant purchase. If they're buying ones and twos of computers, they can effectively bypass you. However, if you take your budget and go out to bid, or piggy-back on another state contract to define where your equipment comes from, then you can lock-in where (and what) equipment can be purchased. If you're in a Western State, you should take advantage of WSCA (http://www.aboutwsca.org) for pricing that's about as low as you can go and is likely pennies over cost.

If you're under the cirriculum side of the house, you should get out in front of teachers and show them how to use technology. Teach them how to use their clickers to get instant feedback from students to insure they understand concepts. Teach them how to use Air-Liners and Promethean boards to provide highly effective instruction. When you impact Student Achievement with tools like that, you become an invaluable resource and they'll start coming to you for advice.

If you're floundering still, make trips to surrounding school districts, meet with their IT directors and see how they do things, see what they do that improves student achievement. Take the assistant Superintendent with you. When you see good ideas, replicate them at home; don't re-invent the wheel. Take the good ideas and make them your own.

It's been my experience that in order to move people who decide on budget matters, stakeholders who are concerned about money...you have to focus on how your change will improve productivity for others, how it will improve cashflow, how it will make the company more effecient, how you'll make all the other departments able to make more money or report more news, etc.. If you can show that IT as it's own department makes money, or helps everyone else make more money, then it would mean that all the questions about cost go away. If IT doesn't cost them money, if it helps make money, then everything else is much easier to overcome.

You ask:

The big question now is, how do I, as a single person, effectively audit the network, servers, databases, backups, and formulate a long-term plan that can be implemented by one person?

I answer:

The same way you eat an elephant - one bite at a time.

Make a list of things to do.
Prioritize them to where you think they belong.
Update the priorities as things happen and you uncover more dire events.
Keep management, directors and executives updated very regularly. (They're likely going to need to spend money on updates at some point. Be honest and up front about it. If they're in the loop, there aren't surprises.)
Lather, rinse, repeat.