To: Michael Green
From: Steve Rippl
Date: September 21, 2023
RE: Tech Department Report
The summer already feels like a long time ago! Over the break, we completed the transfer of all of our phones onto the new system, which has really gone very smoothly. We’re now running a much cheaper system both in terms of licensing and hardware (phone and server) costs. We’ve had some minor losses of functionality, but nothing crucial. We also tore out the old (and failing) Simplex PA system in the middle school and replaced it with amps driven by zone controllers that various systems can connect to digitally. The old classroom speakers and wiring are still in place, so the audio quality isn’t great, but at least we now have more flexibility in terms of how we drive the bells and announcements. We experimented with using our new phone system as it has a scheduling function for broadcasts, but that hasn’t yet proved to be reliable enough (or we are doing something wrong!), so right now, we’re driving the system using the high school’s Informacast system. Long term, this will likely have to change, but things are stable and working well right now.
We prepped the new 5th and 9th grade Chromebooks as is our usual summer pattern now. At the elementary grades, we had to decommission quite a few classroom carts as the devices in them had (long) since aged out of security (and general) updates. As well as being unsafe on our network, things like i-Ready and State testing would no longer work on them. There were also the usual background network and server upgrades as time and funds would allow. We didn’t get to deploy as many new staff desktops as we would have liked because we ran out of time, but we will be pushing those out this fall.
For KWRL, we introduced new functionality in their Portal to handle trip requests and assignments, and requests from member districts for specialized transportation. In Sips, we made improvements to TEAM High learning plan progress evaluations, attendance tracking, and high school teacher input for their MTSS process.
The start of the school year has been a little frantic, as always. We’re certainly feeling the loss of our staff member as we have to spread the load across the rest of our team once again, but as always, classrooms are our top priority. The teachers, for the most part, have what they need tech-wise, and the year is off to a strong start.