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On Monday, the Cloquet school board took a vote that made students and staff safer AND saved the district money.
Instead of spending between $100,000 and $180,000 to replace the district’s aging walkie-talkie system — many of the devices are failing and often don’t work throughout the buildings — board members voted to switch the district to an emergency cellular network.
Rather than walkie-talkies, the district will purchase FirstNet iPhones (at a cost of 99 cents each) with a Push-to-Talk app that operates like a walkie-talkie and communicates with other users on the same network.
Unlike a w...