Chandler Unified details network upgrades, cybersecurity measures and AI guidance for classrooms

Chandler Unified School District technology leaders presented the governing board April 9 with a progress update on recent infrastructure investments — including wireless and switching upgrades, a 1:1 device fleet, classroom interactive flat panels and new cybersecurity controls — and described district guidance for adopting artificial intelligence in instruction and operations.

Colleen Flannery, the district’s technology chief, introduced a cross‑functional team and said the department now supports about 43,000 student devices on the network (roughly 1:1) and manages a large enterprise network: staff reported roughly 80,000 devices attached (including printers, cameras and IoT) and around 3,000 wireless access points across 50 buildings. The district has increased core bandwidth into the district office and said it is “future‑proofing” capacity: staff said about 10 Gbps is currently used and the district has contract capacity substantially higher to support growth.

Flannery and technical directors described recent E‑Rate supported upgrades to switches and access points across campuses and said the district applied for E‑Rate to fund home hotspot connectivity for some students after ESSER funding for hotspots ended. The district also reported a managed‑print deployment to centralize toner contracts and a device inventory and help‑desk system that handles more than 20,000 service requests per year.

Cybersecurity was a major focus. The team described a layered approach including a disaster‑recovery playbook, a district cyber readiness program developed with state grants and partnerships with the Department of Homeland Security and other local governments, and quarterly phishing tests for staff using Infosec. The district said it is using a state grant to license endpoint and visibility tools (named Tanium in the presentation) and has run a local cybersecurity conference for k–12 technology leaders.

Instructional technology highlights included near‑districtwide installation of interactive flat panels to replace projectors, a strategy to “untether” teachers with docking stations and laptop workflows, and a multi‑device approach that issues iPads for K–2, Chromebooks for grades 3–8 and Windows laptops for high school and CTE coursework. Sean (last name not provided) summarized esports and said high schools run AIA‑sanctioned teams (examples: Super Smash Bros., League of Legends) with Hamilton and Perry teams noted.

On artificial intelligence, the team said the district is approaching AI in three buckets: operations (make administrative tasks more efficient), teacher tools (help teachers analyze data and personalize instruction) and student tools (AI literacy and ethical use). Staff noted the district is encouraging staff to use commercially available AI tools that operate under existing enterprise agreements (e.g., Google Gemini and Microsoft Copilot) because those contracts include stronger data protections and do not use teacher input to further train public models. The district has published broad AI guidance for staff, offered an online AI course for teachers and formed an AI advisory of classroom teachers to build K–12 AI learning progressions.

Board members asked about classroom adoption of the new interactive flat panels and the district described a staged training plan and local “power user” pilots at sites before full rollout. Flannery said the panels carry a seven‑year warranty the district negotiated and that staff will budget for end‑of‑life replacement in future capital plans.

No board action was required; the presentation was informational and will be available with the meeting materials.

Sources: Chandler Unified study session, April 9, 2025; district presentation and Q&A.