What Has the PPEL Funded in the Past?

Replacing computer hardware and adding new equipment is
an ongoing expense. Without the PPEL Fund, maintaining
this equipment would not be possible. 

Last week I reminded you about the upcoming PPEL renewal on September 10th and encouraged you to make sure your voice is heard when it comes to  renewing this important district resource. As a brief recap, the PPEL is a revenue stream that is part of a larger fund commonly referred to as the Capital Projects Funds. But what specifically are PPEL funds used for?

These funds are primarily used for building repairs or upgrades, technological equipment such as computers and servers, and replacement of our fleet vehicles. These projects and equipment go a long way toward making improvements to our facilities and without this revenue stream most of these expenditures would not be possible. If you are like me, you are probably wondering, "Okay, projects and equipment.....like what?" Fair question.

This afternoon I asked our accounting specialist for a report detailing what types of things we have purchased with PPEL dollars over the last five years. I probably could have gone back even further, but ended up with a ten page report! However, I thought it might be interesting to share some of the items with you. This is not an exhaustive list and only includes some of the highlights. If you are interested in seeing more, please let me know!

As I stated above this is not an exhaustive list. My intention was to merely give you an example of what some of those projects and expenditures are. You can see that our investment in technology is heavy, and will continue to be as we move to an environment that relies more and more on the infusion of technology and 21st Century Skills. Hopefully you recognized that this list is very diverse. Everything from facilities upgrades to transportation requests-these are all items that are purchased through the PPEL. 

In addition, we use PPEL funds to replace carpet, remodel bathrooms, and purchase musical instruments. PPEL funds become critical during emergency situations as well. In the event a boiler goes down in the middle of the winter, or the air handling units crash the week before graduation, PPEL funds are used to handle these type of emergency repairs. Copy equipment? Classroom furniture? Athletic facility upgrades? You bet.

It is important to remember that renewing this revenue stream will not result in increased taxes. As you can hopefully see from my examples above, this will continue a valuable resource for the district. These funds allow us to keep Hudson facilities in excellent condition and provide top notch learning resources for our students.

Please remember to vote on  September 10th.

This new 78 passenger school bus joined the fleet in
July of 2013. It was purchased using PPEL funds
at a cost of approximately $97,000.