- By Dan Veaner
- Around Town
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 Deb Pichette is Director of Curriculum and Faculty Development as well as the district's Technology Leader |
At last week's Board Of Education (BOE) meeting Director of Curriculum Deb Pichette presented a restructuring proposal that seeks to address technology issues in the district while staying within the funds budgeted for technology personnel. She proposed hiring two new employees, filling a network specialist position and creating a new position, School Information Systems Specialist. At the previous meeting she had presented a comprehensive summary of technology needs in the district, including some that are State mandated. "If I could start listing the pieces that go to technology to run this school district, you might be overwhelmed as I was," Pichette told the Board.
Pichette began working in the district at the beginning of this year, and almost immediately found herself in a whirl of controversy because her high-level administrative position was created at a time when taxpayers were concerned that the district was spending too much. Some residents and teachers have questioned whether the district needed another top administrative posts as opposed to classroom positions that directly impact children, although teachers were active advocates for the creation of the position before the budget controversy erupted. And a secretary for Pichette was proposed there was so much outcry that the position was removed from the budget. So, while nobody has questioned Pichette's abilities or achievements, the position itself has been under constant attack, especially since the failed school budget vote last May.
In this atmosphere Pichette was asked to head the technology department, and she reportedly has been spending 60% of her time on the job trying to understand the wide ranging technology needs of the district and coming up with a plan to meet them. "She willingly stepped up to the plate and filled a major need in the district," Superintendent Mark Lewis told the BOE.
He also thanked the three micro computer specialists Nancy Raza, Caroline Parks, and Roger Jagoda, who have been scrambling to complete a number of tasks that go far beyond the scope of their job descriptions before the school year begins next week. With the loss of half-time Technology Director Rick Miller and the recent resignation of a computer network specialist who worked in the district for only eight days before resigning from the position. Pichette is not a technician, but according to the three micro computer specialists she has been working overtime to understand district needs and help them prepare long and short term strategies and to get things done.
The four have been scrambling to get equipment and software ready for the school year, which means that jobs normally done by micro computer specialists have been delayed to fill in for the missing network specialist tasks. In addition the three have found ways to consolidate systems and reduce support needs. For example teachers and administrators will all use the same e-mail software, meaning that only one software package will need support. The time saved in training and support will free specialists to do other work. Pichette noted that Raza had researched software that allows students to weigh in with answers anonymously, getting students who are too shy or worried about getting the wrong answer to participate.
In her initial presentation Pichette divided technology needs into infrastructure, outerstructure and community. Infrastructure is the stuff you don't see, but that makes everything else work. It includes such items as network servers, capital equipment, the physical network (wiring, switches, routers), security and communication. She defined 'outerstructure' as the things you see such as desktop and laptop computers, software, and integration with the teaching program. Community includes data bases, training and administrative programs required to run the school system. It also includes the state data warehouse, which is used, among other things, to help determine the level of funding the district receives, and requires twice monthly reports. "We have to support the (County) jail, too," Pichette added,"with computers, printers, and technology support."
In listing these items a recurring theme was privacy, accuracy of data, and security. In the past all district employees have had access to data on students in their buildings. Pichette and her team have sought to consolidate the information into one district-wide data base, but also to limit access on a need-to-know basis. Parents were recently sent a copy of data on their children and asked to correct it and return it in a postage-paid envelope. This will correct much data that was contradictory, because siblings in different schools were previously in separate data bases. This is where the new School Information Systems Specialist position comes in -- it designates one person who has access to all the data and is responsible for making sure it is accurate and secure.
In her presentation last week she sought to explain how the two positions will begin to address the many needs she identified in the previous BOE meeting. The Network Specialist will manage and monitor the physical network and infrastructure, plus be primarily responsible for its security, which includes backups. Pichette noted that the first complete backup of the whole system had only recently been completed. The School Information Systems Specialist will be the "people" equivalent, acting as student registrar, managing the statistics and data bases as well as the help desk.
Before requesting the new position Pichette found a way to fund both positions without significantly going over the amount budgeted for the network specialist alone. Previously the district got its network specialist through BOCES, and had been contracted to do so this year for $77,386. By bringing the position in-house Pichette calculated that for only $8,000 more than that she could fund both positions. The reason this works is that the district can hire individuals with less seniority at a lower cost than BOCES charges. It will have an benefit that the district will have direct control over its employees.
"When Ms. Pichette presented this information to me, which is admittedly overwhelming, we thought it was important to underscore that we have four people here that are doing the work in the district," Lewis said. "What we would like to do is present a plan to restructure the staffing in order to make sure that our technology infrastructure continues to meet the needs in the district." Raza said that during the budget debate she had been amopng those who questioned hiring a secretary for Pichette. After working with her she told the BOE, "The woman needs a secretary."
Jagoda also spoke in support of Pichette, saying, "If you think you've been blitzed today, we come to her every day with a new chapter in what needs to be done." He noted that the new digital phone system was about to be switched into the system, and that it is expected to save the district at least $200 a month in addition to the technical benefits it brings.
The BOE voted 5 to 1, with Christine Iacobucci dissenting, to create the positions and to appoint Jagoda as network specialist. Pichette will keep the position of technology leader as part of her job. A new micro computer specialist will be hired to fill Jagoda's former job, and the BOE will decide later when or whether to hire the School Information Systems Specialist. In the meanwhile creating the position allows Business Administrator Larry Lawrence to work with Civil Service to categorize the position, which must be done before the position can be filled.
Pichette says that she will be able to spend more time on curriculum and teacher development once the positions are filled. She has already made inroads in bringing a state funded Teacher Center to Lansing, a resource for faculty to continue training and career development, and has been working with teachers and administrators on developing curricular initiatives. But technology will continue to be a major focus for Pichette as she continues to keep the network infrastructure, equipment, software, support, and training up to date
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