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District technology director outlines AI training, cybersecurity steps and funding pressures
Summary
The district’s technology director briefed the board on system upgrades, an AI professional-learning partnership, multi-tiered cybersecurity training and an expected drop in FCC E-rate discounts, and said the district will pivot to find alternate funding to sustain services.
Tony Baron, the district’s director of technology and curriculum integration, told the board the department is focusing on system efficiency, AI professional learning for teachers, cybersecurity defenses and family engagement around digital citizenship.
Baron described how the district has used Canvas to speed hiring and Synergy to streamline student information workflows, and said analytics and a new grade-book platform are being piloted. He outlined an AI professional-development path created with the Krauss Center for Innovation (KCI): a 12-teacher AI Capstone (Foothill College credit, grant-funded) and a 30-teacher in-house program led by teachers who completed the capstone. Math teacher Kath Boris, who completed the summer capstone, told the board AI ‘‘is not lazy … it’s just a predictive algorithm that helps us save time’’ and said privacy and ethics training are integral to the PD.
On cybersecurity, Baron said the district uses a three-pronged approach — technology tools, user education and monitoring — and described ongoing phishing tests, targeted follow-up training for staff who click test links, and an annual training requirement. He also described a family-engagement series on parental controls and digital stressors and said attendance at initial events was high.
Baron warned of fiscal pressure: he said the district’s FCC E-rate service discount dropped from about 80% to roughly 60% this year, requiring the district to identify alternate funds to maintain connectivity and device refresh cycles.
Trustees asked about privacy protections for AI tools; Baron said the district uses Google for Education (work accounts) where inputs do not feed public models in the same way as consumer accounts, and that content filtering prevents student-facing AI from producing finished essays. Trustees also requested more targeted, role-based cybersecurity training for high-risk staff and larger venues for the next family-engagement session; Baron said the district will expand offerings based on demand.
