Technology director post panned by school board

The Shawano School Board applied the brakes on plans to reinstate a technology director position in the district July 25, concerned that there was more of a need for boots on the ground to fix failing technology than a leader to oversee it all.

The board did not vote on the position, instead opting to table the matter, after a discussion on what staff needs are to get new Apple equipment working properly for staff, with many current and former teachers reporting lack of training on the new equipment and frustration with older equipment not working.

Superintendent Randi Anderson brought the idea forth as an option for restructuring the technology department. She said she brought forth the one option to the district’s finance committee, but it was recommended to bring forth other options, as well.

“With the needs that we have in the technology department, the capacity we have and the ability to meet all of those needs across the district between infrastructure, implementation and instructional strategies to leverage the resources that we have, we still believe this is the best decision for us, as a district, to have a tech director,” Anderson said.

Anderson said the other options available would be to continue having a technology consultant, which elicited groans from people in the audience, or to just reconfigure the technology department to have somebody in charge.

“I think that is extremely shortsighted with the needs we have in our technology department,” Anderson said, urging the board to reconsider the director position.

She suggested that funding from the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) program from the federal government for two instruction technology coordinator positions could be used to pay for a director position. Anderson told the board that the district posted those two positions months ago and did not receive any applicants.

“We can cover the tech director at no increase to your general fund for two years with the ESSER dollars,” Anderson said, suggesting that the district reassess the situation once those one-time funds are used up.

Board member Jeana Winslow suggested it would be better to assess something more permanent now, rather than using the technology director as a bandage on the district’s technology woes. She noted that it seems highly unlikely the position would go away, even if the district’s finances get even tighter.

“If we’re reassessing after two years, that’s not going to go away,” Winslow said. “It’s going to be here we’re spending all this money, and then in two years, we come back and say, do we have the money to continue to do that. Let’s not spend the money now, and reassess in a year where we are financially — can we afford a director?”

Anderson disagreed with Winslow’s idea, suggesting there would be a “substantial learning curve” for someone currently in the department to assume leadership duties. She noted that was done with the human resources department, and it was not successful.

“We have had volumes of changes the last couple of years, and we’ve been working through some of those pieces to ensure that our system works smoothly for our teachers, our staff and our students,” Anderson said. “It’s shortsighted not to put that support in at this point in time.”

Board member Chris Gull argued that waiting to resolve the issue is only going to make it worse, comparing the wait-and-see approach to an ostrich sticking its head in the sand.

“For months now, we’ve been hearing that our technology is not a well-oiled machine,” Gull said. “We’re hearing that people have minimal or lack basic skills to using our technology, so we’re going to take something that has been a hot-button issue for months and months and months and not address it?”

Board member Mart Grams called the technology director position a bureaucratic move that would not address the issues of faulty technology and employee frustration with it. He suggested it would be better to hire personnel with expertise on Apple products or offer bonuses to staff who are able to pass courses on Apple technology than hire another director.

“This isn’t going to solve a single issue for a teacher or a child,” Grams said. “We have a person who is a coordinator who is supposed to teach that stuff. This is just another bureaucrat to sign paperwork.”

Board president Mike Musolff questioned if the district would have any better luck finding a director than it did for the technology coordinator positions offered months ago, citing a shortage of qualified IT professionals.

“Most of these types of positions are already filled in other school districts,” Musolff said. “I’m not sure how much this position pays, but it’s going to be quite expensive, I think. Are we able to readdress our internal candidates to be able to handle these situations?”

lpulaski@newmedia-wi.com