The Tamaqua Area School Board last week approved more than $300,000 in purchases as the new school year begins, including new computers for teachers and upgrading aging security cameras.

Superintendent Ray Kinder said that the teachers need computers that are better than a Chromebook used by students to run different programs.

The computers for the teachers will cost $99,750 from ByteSpeed, a CO-STARS approved vendor, and this was a budgeted expenditure, he said.

The district is also upgrading its security cameras, replacing equipment that is 16 to 17 years old, said Ken Dunkelberger, chief operations officer. The cameras will provide better clarity and analytics, he said.

The $193,127 purchase is also from ByteSpeed, and was budgeted, Kinder said.

The district is also spending $14,260.66 on serving equipment for the high school cafeteria from Rice’s Food Equipment & Consulting under a CO-STARS contract. The equipment will be for a coffee bar, which meets all the nutritional guidelines, Kinder said.

The board also ratified the purchase of furniture for its student centers from Hertz Furniture at a cost of $36,816, using a CO-STARS contract and Morgan Foundation funds.

Kinder reported that the district had Holly Clark, an international expert in artificial intelligence, do a presentation for teachers during an in-service day on how to use AI in the classroom and help students.

Students will be easing into the school year as they begin classes this week, and with holiday-shortened weeks for the next two weeks before the regular five-day school week begins, he said.

“Hopefully, everyone’s ready for it,” Kinder said.