ANDOVER — Selectmen and the School Committee have approved a plan to consolidate the town's four information technology departments.
Town officials said the move will save Andover money by combining the departments. The town, School Department, Public Safety Center and Memorial Hall Library all have their own information technology departments.
The first step is to hire a chief information officer, who will work to link the four departments. The town will work to transition to a consolidated IT department in fiscal year 2012.
Resident Len D'Innocenzo, chairman of the town's IT Advisory Committee, said there are at least three major benefits to the consolidation. They are being able to combine equipment purchases, efficient operations, and accessibility to resources.
The School Committee and the selectmen met Monday to discuss how to move forward with the plan. The plan was developed by the BlumShapiro consulting firm.
School Committee Chairman Dennis Forgue said his committee approves hiring the chief information officer to get the process moving, but does not endorse all the details in the proposal.
"There are a lot of details and we are not endorsing all the specifics," he said.
He said one of the problems with the proposal is the chief information officer would only report to the town manager and not the school superintendent.
Other issues include how to pay for the position and an educational technology component, which wasn't included in the plan, Forgue said.
The position is supposed to be paid for under existing town and school operating budgets.
Forgue recommended that Town Manager Reginald "Buzz" Stapczynski and Superintendent Marinel McGrath work together and report back to their respective boards with how the plan is developing.
The hiring process for the chief information officer will begin in September.
Between October and January, Stapczynski and McGrath will develop an agreement outlining the process of consolidating all existing town and school IT functions into the new shared department. The plan will be voted on by the School Committee and the selectmen, as well as the Finance Committee.
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