District IT director outlines ticketing backlog, requests extra contractor days and software to manage Mac fleet

Maria Juntan, director of IT and communications, briefed the board Nov. 5 on the district's new help‑desk ticketing system, monthly ticket counts and the current staffing model.

Juntan reported that the district received several hundred tickets in recent months (286 in September, 242 in October) with resolved counts lower than incoming volume, producing a backlog the department aims to reduce to a target range of 1–30 open tickets. She described ticket priorities (outages and phones first) and several submission routes (email, website, phone), and said users often email staff directly instead of using the central ticketing queue.

To address staffing and management gaps, Juntan requested an addendum to a current contract to add two additional contracted FTE days per week (about $30,000 per year) and sought approval to purchase device management software (Jamf) and related services to push Mac updates automatically. She said the district currently has one full‑time on‑site FTE and one part‑time person two days a week plus contracted support and that training and turnover increase demand for on‑site time.

Board members asked how staff report urgent outages and who submits tickets when devices are down; Juntan said staff call the IT office and the help desk triage agent will create the ticket on the user's behalf. She said EdTech funds can cover the additional contracted days and some device software costs.

Why it matters: Centralized ticketing and automated device management affect classroom uptime and staff productivity. The board will consider the contract addendum and software purchases at future agenda steps.