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District outlines 5-year technology plan, iPad field study and cybersecurity priorities
Summary
District technology staff presented the five‑year technology plan, previewed an iPad classroom field study, and described metrics and tools the district will use to measure ed-tech effectiveness and cybersecurity readiness.
Mister Schmidt, staff member, presented the district’s five-year technology plan, describing replacement cycles for devices and infrastructure, the E‑Rate reimbursement process and a new approach for evaluating the educational impact of technology investments.
Schmidt said the district remains at a four‑star rating on its technology KPI and must adapt now that a previously used assessment tool (BrightBytes) is no longer available. The district plans to use Learn Platform to measure usage of educational technology and to analyze whether tools produce measurable learning gains; he said the platform helps the district scale purchases and identify underused tools.
The board approved a field study for classroom iPad deployments next school year; Schmidt thanked the board for support and said administrators and teachers are being briefed on the pilot classrooms. He said device replacement cycles vary: mobile devices are typically on a roughly four‑year cycle while larger infrastructure (network switches, firewalls, cabling) can be a multi‑year schedule. Schmidt noted E‑Rate typically reimburses a large share of network infrastructure costs and said the district received an 80% reimbursement in the last cycle.
Board members asked about reliability and internet downtime. Mister Wright said classroom downtime is the most frequent complaint he hears; Schmidt responded that the district supports tens of thousands of devices and that while short outages occur, the district tracks outages and performs post‑mortem reviews to reduce repeat failures. On classroom uses of artificial intelligence, Schmidt said, “I am really excited for, what our kids are going to be able to do when they augment their learning with artificial intelligence.”
Schmidt said the technology plan also ties to the district’s cybersecurity KPI: data privacy agreements with vendors and improved controls are part of the five‑year plan. The district will continue to monitor E‑Rate reauthorization and incorporate anticipated funding into multi‑year replacement plans.
