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IT DIVISION

YEAR IN REVIEW
2020

The year 2020 has likely been the most challenging year any of us can
remember, due to the COVID-19 Pandemic and the ripple effects of brick
and mortar schools closing for the safety and well-being of our students,
teachers, staff and their families. With required quarantines, business, social
and religious buildings being closed, we all faced an uncertain future as we
tried to fathom the impact and magnitude of the pandemic to our kids, our
jobs and our families.

When the decision came in mid-March to temporarily close the schools
for in-person learning and pivot to distance learning for all students and
remote work for all employees, the magnitude of the task seemed incredibly
daunting.
Like the rest of our District colleagues, the IT Division jumped immediately
to plan, assist, implement and support the massive undertaking of
moving quickly to distance learning and remote work for all schools and
departments. Fortunately, years of proactive planning and implementation
of Chromebooks for students, Windows devices for staff and deployment of
Google Mail and Apps had us better prepared than most districts.

IT Division leadership developed plans in cooperation with key District
departments to issue Chromebooks to as many students as possible for
remote learning, as well as laptops for staff to work remotely. While we were
better situated than a lot of districts, we still had tremendous logistical,
communication and technology challenges to overcome. The configuration,
sanitization and distribution of Chromebooks for students/teachers and
laptops for staff required precise coordination within the IT Division and
among the other District departments.
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In the two weeks before schools reopened for remote learning in March 2020,
the IT Technical Operations staff distributed over 66,000 devices to students, Service Desk
teachers, staff and administrators, primarily at the school sites. Thousands (561) 242-4100
of additional devices would be distributed over the next few weeks as the
District worked diligently to ensure that every student who needed a laptop
would receive one. Staff from other IT departments jumped in to assist the IT
Service Desk as calls from students, parents and teachers flooded the lines
seeking help, information and technical assistance.
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