Tremendous technology upgrades in the past decade mean Nome School District’s Technology Department is under pressure to service all the equipment and systems now used in the schools. They’re managing to do it with just two full-time and one part-time tech specialist, but the demanding workload has prompted a request for more help.
At the School Board work session earlier this week, Director of Technology Robin Johnson voiced an exhaustive list of duties the three current tech employees have been taking on.
“We’ve added PowerSchool, which includes online grade book, which includes parent support. MAP testing is very tech heavy—the set-up of it, creating all the class roster files, making sure all the kids are ready to test so they can just log in,” explained Johnson.
With one member of the tech staff teaching half time, the job tickets have been piling up, requiring staff to pull long hours on nights and weekends. And if something, like a Promethean “smart” Board, breaks during the school day, a teacher can’t instruct until someone has time to fix it.
According to Superintendent Steve Gast, who spent the past two weeks analyzing cost and efficiency within each department of the district, there’s enough money in the existing budget to bring on a new person in January or February.
“This doesn’t touch certified teachers; it doesn’t touch the classroom,” said Gast. “As far as funding is concerned, it’s all within the classified realm.”
Technically, the school board doesn’t have to approve the new job if it’s a classified position, as opposed to a certified position like a teacher. But Gast said he brought the idea to the board first because the technology department plays a vital role in the district, and he wanted to keep them in the loop.
“See, you don’t really have to take action on it. It’s one of those weird things,” said Gast. “But I’m not going behind the school board’s back and just hiring somebody and saying, ‘Oh, by the way, here’s what we did.’”
While the board isn’t responsible for making a decision in this case, some members expressed initial reservations with the idea of adding a new position.
“So, we keep talking about it but no one is explaining how we’re paying for this,” said Jennifer Reader.
Gast said gathering the funds will come from a reorganization of responsibilities within the district, though he explicitly stated that no jobs will be cut, and new money will not be needed.
That begged the question from board members like Barb Amarok: If the district can pull together about $80,000 for a new hire, is there a greater need that money should be addressing?
“I would want to know if there’s a direct relationship between adding this position and improving the reading proficiency of more students,” said Amarok. “Because I hear what you’re saying, that we’re not touching instructional money, but that’s $80,000 that could be directed right at reading proficiency at the elementary school.”
With almost 40 percent of the elementary school “below” or “far below” proficiency in reading, it’s an area that needs attention and some board members argue it’s a higher priority right now. But for Gast, the issue comes down to sustaining the educational technology already in place before adding more teachers or programs to the district.
“Yeah, I see what you’re saying. But you know, we can come to you with just about anything, and we can say, ‘You know, that’s money we could use for another teacher here, another teacher there,'” said Gast. “I understand that, but I’m just between a rock and a hard place…it does no good to have another teacher if I can’t support the technology that we currently have within our school district.”
The topic will be revisited at the November 9 board meeting. Other items discussed at the work session include updating teacher evaluations and the superintendent evaluation, and a presentation by Stephanie Kemper with the obesity prevention grant.
