District technology director outlines security, device and AI plans as he prepares to retire

Brian Knox, director of technology for Campbell County School District #1, used his final board meeting presentation to report that the district—ollowed up on a February PowerSchool data breach, to summarize a multi-year plan for replacing student and staff devices, and to flag upcoming decisions on email systems, storage limits and artificial intelligence.

Knox said PowerSchool has “followed up with what they had promised,” including outreach to affected accounts, and that the individual responsible for the breach had been arrested and charged. "The other great news is that the individual responsible for that has been, arrested and charges have have been filed against them," Knox said.

The update sketched out several operational and budget items that the board will likely need to act on in coming years. Knox said the district is in year two of a five-year device-replacement plan for students, with incoming high-school students receiving updated Chromebooks and junior-high and elementary rotations continuing. "For our students, this is year 2," Knox said. He said roughly 20% of staff receive updated devices each year and that staff receive credits they may bank for future replacement.

Knox described ongoing infrastructure work funded in part through the federal E-Rate program and said nearly all classrooms have been fitted with interactive display panels. "I'm proud to say that at this 0.9 of our schools are completely done with their panel installations," he said, a figure he gave as a proportion of schools completed. The district placed a seven-year warranty on those panels and is tracking long-term replacement costs.

On data storage, Knox said the district has about 100 terabytes of Google storage and has used roughly 60% of it. To limit growth, the district will cap staff accounts at 100 gigabytes and student accounts at 20 gigabytes, and will begin deleting accounts five years after staff departure or five years after a student—lass graduates. "We have decided that we're going to start deleting accounts," he said, and outlined the five-year hold period to allow returns.

Knox also urged the board to prepare for a future replacement of the district's FirstClass email system after the vendor announced it will cease development and move to a support-only posture. He said the district already maintains Google email as a backup and suggested a transition plan rather than a rapid cutover.

On artificial intelligence, Knox said the district currently allows staff access to AI tools for professional development and preparation but does not permit students to use district resources with AI. "At this time, we do not allow students to utilize any of the district resources with AI," he said, adding that the curriculum department is discussing how to support teachers and safely integrate AI where appropriate.

Knox opened for questions and received board discussion about panels, storage and how the legislature—ould affect funding following a court ruling that technology is part of the "basket of goods" the legislature funds. He closed by noting his long association with the district and by handing the transition to his successor. "It's been an honor, to to serve Campbell County School District," Knox said.

The board did not take a formal action on any single technology item during the presentation; several items Knox flagged (email replacement, panel-life planning, storage enforcement and student-AI policy) were presented as matters for future board consideration and budget planning.