Derby tech director says Skyward upgrade scrambled data; district pilots parental Chromebook controls
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Summary
Technology director Dennis Eldridge told the board an upgrade to Skyward scrambled imported data and caused payroll errors that took intensive staff work to fix; the district also reported an E‑rate Category 1 funding letter and a pilot of GoGuardian parent portal and enhanced teacher filtering.
Dennis Eldridge, Derby Public Schools’ director of technology, told the board the district’s recent Skyward upgrade “did not go how we thought it would go,” leaving scrambled imported data and payroll problems that required substantial manual corrections.
"People didn't get paid, didn't get paid correctly, overpaid, underpaid," Eldridge said, thanking payroll, curriculum and HR teams for long hours spent restoring correct data and processing. He described staff work stretching from early morning into late hours during the remediation.
Eldridge also outlined the district’s cybersecurity awareness campaign for October — a themed series of weekly tips and videos — and reported progress on federal E‑rate funding: the district received a letter of funding for Category 1 (Internet connectivity) but is still awaiting Category 2 funding for network equipment. He told trustees the district had been flagged for a full Program Integrity Assurance review this cycle.
On classroom devices, Eldridge said the district is piloting GoGuardian enhancements that allow teachers to temporarily restrict or open sites for specific students and is testing a parent portal that lets parents view Chromebook activity and apply their own filters when students are off the district network. He said the parent portal pilot is running at five schools with more than 20 parents participating so far and that no additional district cost is expected because the functionality already exists within GoGuardian.
Trustees asked a few clarifying questions and praised staff for handling the payroll disruptions.
Eldridge said the district continues to monitor E‑rate communications for Category 2 funding and will update the board as awards are received.
