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West Milford hires student tech interns, moves livestream to YouTube to save costs
Summary
At its July 15 meeting the West Milford Board of Education heard a summer technology update: the district has hired student interns to repair Chromebooks, is 75% through device cleanup, hired a new technician, launched a new website and shifted live-streaming to YouTube as a cost-saving measure.
At the July 15 West Milford Board of Education meeting, Assistant Superintendent Joseph Tridacosta told the board the district has reorganized its technology work this summer, hired student IT interns to repair devices and moved its meeting livestream to YouTube to reduce recurring costs.
Tridacosta said the district “is about 75% through the cleaning, repair, and processing of all of our Chromebooks.” He described an eight-student intern team that has been trained by district technicians to replace keyboards and screens, clean devices and remove stickers; he added the interns have not yet been trained to repair cameras.
The change matters because the district estimated a long-standing gap in staff capacity to service thousands of devices each summer. “We simply haven't had the manpower to... clean 5,000 Chromebooks,” Tridacosta said, describing the interns as a way to “prolong the life of some of these devices.” He also said the district hired a new technician who started earlier in July to work alongside the interns.
Tridacosta outlined other technology changes: a domain-preserving migration to a new Apogee-hosted website that went live July 1 and is slated for a full relaunch and announcement on Aug. 15, and a change in the district’s livestreaming approach. After budget discussions about recurring platform costs, the district began streaming meetings via YouTube that evening. Tridacosta said portions of the workflow—transferring archived video files and establishing a district channel—were completed in the days before the meeting; he invited feedback and provided an email for follow-up: joseph.tridacosta@wmtps.org.
Board members praised the hands-on approach. Board member Dr. Kitchen noted the student interns had energized the department: “the kids being there... has juiced up the department a little bit,” he said, thanking staff for finding a lower‑cost livestream option.
No formal board action was taken on the technology updates during the meeting; the items were presented as an informational report and will be available for further committee discussion and routine operational oversight.
Less critical details: Tridacosta said interns are scheduled to continue device work at district schools (he mentioned Paradise School and Marshall Hills), and staff are reviewing inventory, purchasing processes and web resources as part of a broader summer review of technology operations.
