The Cape Girardeau School District will buy and implement new two-way radios for communication this year, having determined its current push-to-talk cellular devices to be quickly nearing obsolescence.

The school board approved a motion during its monthly meeting Monday night that authorized the purchase of new radios and equipment from Dittronics Inc. of Benton, Missouri, for $127,983.

Assistant superintendent Neil Glass said during the meeting the plan to switch to a radio system had been discussed for at least the last six months and has been a subject of his personal interest for two years.

“We had to come up with a different solution to serve our needs, not only in the buildings but the buses as well,” he said.

In addition to the aging of Verizon’s push-to-talk network, the money to fund that mode of communication likely will be gone in the near future, Glass said.

He said the purchase of radios will be considered an equipment expense covered by the $20 million bond issue passed in 2015.

Glass said the new equipment will be portable as well as bus-mounted and will be compatible with other radio networks such as the one used by Jackson schools.

“The great thing about Dittronics is that it will allow us to partner with Jackson,” Glass said.

“We’ll utilize their network when we’re over there. They’ll utilize our network over here.”

Glass said he had been in talks with Jackson school officials about a plan, if brought to fruition, would expand the Cape Girardeau school district’s radio network two to three times.

The bus-mounted radios would be GPS-enabled to allow the district to find the bus if it breaks down or becomes lost.

Glass said the radios have undergone pilot testing at Central High School for a month and a half, and they have received “two thumbs up.”

“We think this meets everything we’re looking for,” Glass said.

Rick Dittlinger of Dittronics said the recurring annual cost of the system after initial investment would be minimal, with a $400 FCC license renewal fee every five years and only equipment maintenance on top of that.

Maintenance would be determined by the conditions in which the radios were used, but he said such radios typically last 10 to 30 years. The investment in commercial-grade equipment would be more effective than money spent on consumer-grade equipment the district uses for push-to-talk service, Dittlinger said.

Glass said the radios represent a “15- to 20-year solution” — the savings derived from which potentially could repay the initial investment in as little as three years.

tgraef@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3627