Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Technology And Instruction topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
District proposes new technology support and academic specialist model to align federal funds and coaching
Summary
Superintendent and staff outlined a reorganization of Technology/Instructional Support (TISS) roles into school-based Technology Support Specialists and district-deployed Academic Specialists; the change aims to align Title II funds to instructional coaching and create clearer role definitions.
Berkeley County Schools staff presented a plan April 30 to reorganize the district’s Technology and Instructional Support structure into distinct Technology Support Specialist (TSS) roles and Academic Specialist coaching positions, citing the need to align federal Title II funding with teacher and principal quality initiatives.
The proposal responds to a district review and outside recommendations that the prior TIS roles were broad, unevenly distributed, and at times focused on device troubleshooting rather than sustained instructional coaching tied to literacy and content standards.
What staff proposed - Technology Support Specialists (TSS): TSS staff will focus on device management, troubleshooting and operational logistics. The initial deployment plan described a dedicated TSS at each high school, one shared TSS for every two middle schools and one shared TSS for every two intermediate schools (shared schedules to be arranged with school administrators). Primary schools will continue with teacher-based SIS‑ops arrangements. - Academic Specialists: These specialists will provide instructional coaching and curriculum support. At the elementary level the model described two ELA/social-studies specialists and two math/science specialists plus one specialist focused on early grades/ECATS; at the secondary level the plan proposed two ELA/social-studies specialists, two math/science specialists and one unified-arts specialist. - Contracts and days: The TSS positions were proposed as 240‑day positions to support device and infrastructure work across the school year and summer. Academic specialists will be scheduled to provide consistent, scheduled coaching in assigned schools and to be deployed with heavier support to schools with greater needs.
Rationale and linkage to other reviews Staff said the redesign implements recommendations from the district’s curriculum and literacy reviews and better aligns use of Title II funds to professional learning, coaching and leadership development. The plan aims to avoid uneven distribution of technology specialists and to ensure schools with the greatest instructional needs receive more frequent academic coaching.
Concerns and next steps Board members asked about staffing numbers, transition pathways for current TIS employees, and the impact on school-based support when a shared TSS is off-site. Staff said they would post positions after board budget approval in May and will work to provide stipends and redundancy (grade‑level sysop stipends) so schools have immediate triage support when the assigned TSS is not on site. The superintendent emphasized the county-level technology role would continue to provide systemwide training and train‑the‑trainer support for academic specialists.
What the board heard: The plan is intended to make federal funds more effective by separating technical operations from instructional coaching and by deploying specialists based on school needs. Posting of positions and implementation depend on the board’s budget approval in mid-May.
