Santa Rita IT outlines device rollouts, Gemini and a pending Verizon grant

The Santa Rita Union School District technology department briefed the board on network upgrades, device deployments, AI pilots and a pending Verizon Innovative Schools grant during the district’s regular board meeting.

IT staff member Hussam said the department installed “about 1,000 devices” this year and manages roughly 7,500 devices across staff and student inventories. The team described an active replacement schedule, e‑rate switch upgrades, camera projects for new construction and system consolidations to reduce monitoring complexity.

The district has begun piloting artificial‑intelligence tools for staff: Google Gemini, NotebookLM and other services are available to pilot teachers and staff in a controlled rollout, staff said. Krisha (technology staff) described responsible‑use training for staff and digital‑citizenship lessons for students; she said student access to AI tools is not yet districtwide and is limited to pilot groups.

“Yes. We’re starting to see some of the integration and feedback with those tools,” Krisha said, describing teacher trainings and a pilot group that has committed to PD sessions to learn uses and limits for classroom instruction.

The board asked about continuity if the district backbone provider (through the county office) experiences outages. Staff said the district maintains hotspots and classroom routers that can serve 20–25 students as interim connectivity; they also noted the district is assessing backup options.

Board members asked about the district’s application for the Verizon Innovative Schools four‑year grant. Staff said Verizon would provide LTE‑integrated Chromebooks for middle‑school students, coaching for instructional staff and training tied to literacy and blended learning. The district expects to hear a decision in mid‑November; staff described potential grant components including funding toward coach salaries (staff said Verizon’s model will provide as much as $25,000 per coach position in some components).

Trustee Neil Patel said he supports adopting technology while preserving classroom basics and urged caution around student reliance on AI: “I love AI. I do, and I do implement it in my class, especially with creating lessons and stuff like that. But I worry about students' overreliance on it, especially when it comes to creating original, thought process, original writing,” Patel said.

The technology team said they will continue teacher‑focused PD, expand pilot groups for Gemini and NotebookLM, integrate AI literacy into staff training and keep student access restricted while the district develops implementation guidelines.

Staff also reported ongoing work on Google Workspace audit and e‑rate procurement, camera installs on new construction, and an upcoming audit of Google Workspace to align with recent Google infrastructure changes. The district noted it secures student data privacy agreements for third‑party apps and runs trainings and onboarding when new instructional tools are deployed.

The board praised the IT staff for responsiveness and asked staff to continue expanding one‑on‑one training for teachers to ensure classroom technology is used effectively. District staff said typical ticket response is within one to two days for non‑urgent items and immediate response for emergencies.