"The last 9 months has been a lot of listening, collecting feedback, collecting information from teachers, from administrators, from our own department," Chris Cowder, the district's director of instructional technology, told the Sayville Union Free School District Board at the workshop presentation.

Cowder outlined a technology roadmap that the district says will reduce login friction, automate rostering and better secure accounts. He described an automation process that connects staffing data (Envision) and student/parent data (Infinite Campus) so accounts for applications such as Google and Microsoft are created or disabled automatically when staff or students join or leave the district.

Key technical updates Cowder detailed:
- ClassLink/QR login: K'2 students now sign into Chromebooks by scanning an individual QR code instead of typing usernames and passwords; Cowder said the change saves instructional minutes.
- 1:1 devices: Students in grades 6
2 have district-issued Chromebooks that they take home; the district is working with Eastern Suffolk BOCES to plan device touchpoints to manage device lifecycles and replacement costs.
- Google Workspace migration: The district is moving staff email from Outlook to Gmail with a go-live date of Nov. 4; Cowder said the district has migrated "over 10,000,000 emails" behind the scenes and will enable two-factor authentication and Google single sign-on with Infinite Campus for teachers.
- Google Classroom rostering: The district automated rollout this August, rostering more than 2,500 Google Classrooms so teachers could accept pre-populated classes instead of manually creating them.
- State approvals and tools: Cowder said the district obtained New York State approval to use Desmos on Regents exams and noted statewide access to First in Math funded by New York; he also described classroom tools in use such as I-Ready, Delta Math and readiness for new math standards.
- Artificial intelligence pilots: Teachers have access to Google Gemini and NotebookLM; Cowder said Gemini is available inside Google Classroom for teachers to generate activities, rubrics and student choice boards.

On devices and logistics, Cowder said Chromebook carts remain in elementary classrooms while secondary students keep devices for multiple years and the district is evaluating replacement timing (a device given in grade 6 may be kept through grade 12 if not replaced). He said the team refurbished Chromebook carts over the summer.

Board members asked several operational questions. A board member asked whether moving from Microsoft to Google changes licensing costs; Cowder replied, "it's a wash when it comes to that." A student observer, Anthony, praised Desmos, telling the board it helps visualize graphs and "it's so much easier than the calculator."

Cowder concluded by saying the district technology committee will submit a three-year plan to the state in April and will prioritize network and security upgrades, systems enhancements, teaching practices and stakeholder engagement.

No formal board vote was held on technology items; Cowder and the administration said planned technology changes will continue to be implemented and brought to the board as needed.