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Board OKs $500 stipend for student technology leaders; technology director outlines cyber protections
Summary
The board approved a Student Technology Leadership Program job description that creates stipend-based student leadership roles ($500 per school) and heard a technology department report on cybersecurity measures including a $2 million cyber insurance policy, two-factor authentication, weekly network scans and simulated phishing tests.
The Rockcastle County School Board approved a job description to establish Student Technology Leadership Program (STLP) positions at each school, funded as stipend roles rather than full-time posts. The board approved a $500-per-school annual stipend for teachers who lead the program.
Speaker 2 explained the STLP will replace previously funded digital literacy coach positions (funded through ESSER) and that the new roles will model responsibilities of the earlier position while focusing on student leadership. Board members noted the stipend amount and clarified the roles are after-school and stipend-based rather than full-time.
In the same meeting, Brandon (Speaker 9) presented the district’s technology and cybersecurity report. He said the district carries a $2,000,000 cyber insurance policy, conducts annual audits of accounts that may contain student information, requires two-factor authentication on all accounts, and runs weekly vulnerability scans on the network. Brandon described a simulated phishing exercise to test staff responses and said finance systems connect to Munis through a VPN box to reduce Internet exposure.
Why it matters: The stipend-based STLP positions aim to increase student engagement with technology at the school level and preserve some functions previously provided by digital literacy coaches. The cybersecurity measures are operational safeguards to protect student and staff data and district finance systems.
Board action and next steps: The board approved the STLP job description and the related salary schedule change to add the $500 stipend. Technology staff will continue regular scans, simulated phishing exercises and coordination with state-level security resources; no cybersecurity incidents were reported in the meeting.
