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District technology director proposes reorganization to speed Chromebook repairs and balance workloads
Summary
Nathan Gilmette, district technology director, proposed reorganizing the IT department to centralize advanced repairs, standardize basic Chromebook fixes across technicians, deploy device "fuel towers," and reassign administrative tasks to office staff; the committee will vote next meeting on revised job descriptions and a baseline technician salary.
Nathan Gilmette, identified himself as the director of technology for the Townsend Schools, presented a proposal to reorganize Westford's technology department to improve efficiency and even out workloads across schools. Gilmette said his review of ticket and repair data showed uneven technician assignments and a backlog of devices concentrated in some locations; he recommended making the lead technician a districtwide escalation resource, reducing Westford Academy from two dedicated technicians to one on-site technician with district support, and distributing basic Chromebook repairs to all technicians while keeping advanced repairs centralized at Westford Academy.
Gilmette said the plan aims to be budget neutral and to shorten repair turnaround times so students get devices back sooner. He proposed a $60,000 baseline salary for computer technicians, removing an assistant technician position (reducing the department by 1.0 FTE) and redistributing that salary to raise baseline pay. He also recommended deploying a 10-bay "fuel tower" (loaner kiosk) at Westford Academy so students can check out and return loaner devices without technician intervention; the district would repurpose two 5-bay units from middle schools as needed.
In response to questions from committee members, Gilmette said the analysis documented roughly 70 Chromebooks in backlog across two middle schools and that shifting basic repair expectations districtwide and using interns for year‑end repairs would reduce that backlog. He said the lead technician would no longer be tied to a single building but would provide escalation support and absence coverage, and administrative tasks (invoicing, clerical work) would move to the IT office manager. Gilmette said the reorganization, including use of the fuel towers and technician reassignments, should allow the district to rebalance ticket loads without increasing costs and could, over time, reduce future capital Chromebook orders if repair turnaround improves.
The committee asked for metrics and a repair‑tracking pilot; Gilmette said he's implementing a scanning-based repair-tracking system that will log turnaround time at intake and help the district measure whether the changes reduce backlog and loaner-device needs. The board agreed to add two motions to the next agenda: (1) approve the updated computer technician job description and (2) approve the recommended baseline salary and associated contract language changes. Gilmette said the proposal remains subject to collective-bargaining and final budget alignment but described it as budget neutral across town and school accounts.
The committee did not take a final vote on the reorganization at the meeting; members asked for the revised job description, the repair-tracking baseline metrics, and clearer fiscal documentation ahead of the next vote.
