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Salem schools report year‑two progress on technology plan, move to library‑led digital learning
Summary
District technology staff updated the committee on year‑two of a multi‑year plan: ticketing analytics, device coverage for students, library/digital learning specialists in some schools, a district data dashboard and planned Wi‑Fi site evaluations.
Mark (technology director) updated the School Committee on Dec. 2 about year two of the Salem Public Schools technology plan, reporting developments in support systems, curriculum integration and device management.
The district launched a new ticketing system to track support requests and response times and reported roughly 3,000 tickets since the start of the school year. Mark said every student currently has a district‑issued device "that is covered under a service plan" and that staff devices are being refreshed to Chromebooks to improve battery life and supportability.
The district’s Digital Learning and Library Services, led by Director Jody Tamayoshi, now places library and digital learning specialists full time in three elementary schools and Collins Middle School to teach technology skills in a rotation model. The goal is to have students learn tech skills in the library/special rotation and then bring those skills into classroom instruction, easing the instructional load on classroom teachers.
Technology staff described a district dashboard and a strategic‑plan “heat map” that pulls data from multiple sources three times per year. The district also plans a winter site evaluation with the city IT department to identify any wireless dead spots in older buildings.
Mark told the committee the district is organizing a knowledge base for staff and a family resource hub to centralize guides and training. He also noted work on data governance and said the district is reassessing policies in light of artificial intelligence tools and student‑data privacy.
Committee members praised progress and urged continued emphasis on integrating technology instruction into the academic mission to prevent students from falling behind.
No formal vote was required. Mark invited staff or community members to submit tech tickets through ClassLink to report Wi‑Fi issues for immediate tracking.
