Richfield technology chief outlines 88% ticket closure, Chromebook pilot and new phone system

Justin Steele, Richfield Public Schools— director of technology, told the school board on May 19 that his first full year in the district included an operational review and a set of projects planned for the coming year, and he outlined staffing, device and service metrics.

Steele said the IT team includes two full‑time Tier 1 technicians (plus one part‑time), two Tier 2 technicians, two Tier 3 technicians, an administrative assistant, seven stipend ed‑tech reps at school sites and four part‑time student interns who prepare devices over the summer. He described a summer internship program that ends with a Chromebook repair certification for the students.

On ticketing he reported SolarWinds records showing 2,096 existing or open tickets on Sept. 3 and 1,846 closed tickets during the school year, an 88% closure rate that he said is above private‑sector industry averages. When asked about the remaining 12%, Steele said tickets escalated to him often require deeper research or coordination with district administration or external vendors and may be left in an awaiting‑input or in‑progress status while work continues.

Steele described the district—s device picture: a large number of Chromebooks and an increase in interactive flat panels in classrooms. He said the district is running a Chromebook Plus pilot for staff that has shown improved battery life and repairability; he also said student Chromebook replacement cycles are in progress and that the district is ordering devices for students in first, fifth and ninth grade for the coming year.

On software and reporting, Steele outlined a rebuild of Hoonuit (the district—s PowerSchool reporting layer) that produced 84 closed Hoonuit/PowerSchool tickets since July 1 and weekly demonstrations to school leaders. He said the Hoonuit work focused on ABAs (academics, behavior and attendance) and that Hoonuit reporting now shows parity with the district—s other systems in terms of accuracy after the rebuild.

Planned projects he listed include a full migration to a RingCentral voice‑over‑IP phone system (cited as a replacement because the NEC handset vendor will be discontinued), upgraded intercoms at remaining sites, upgrades to secondary teacher laptops and the standard student device refresh. Steele said the RingCentral implementation will include softphone apps so staff can transfer a call from a desk handset to a mobile app, and he told the board a hardwired phone in classrooms remains important for 9‑1‑1 reliability because of statutory emergency‑services requirements.

On artificial intelligence, Steele said the district—s approach emphasizes student‑privacy and proper use: use AI as a creative collaborator, not a substitute for educator judgment, and avoid submitting identifiable student data to public AI models. "AI is not intelligent; it's presented intelligently," Steele told the board as part of his guidance for staff training.

Steele closed by describing plans for expanded teacher training (a fall series and an online knowledge base), a focus on site‑based trainers (stipend ed‑tech reps) and improved communications to staff about technology offerings and training opportunities.