Weld county school district re-3j
Director of Technology
May 2018 to Present
Weld County School District Re-3J has approximately 2600 students and 400 staff, spread out over nine physical locations in rural Weld County.
As Director of Technology, I am responsible for numerous aspects of the Technology for the district. I supervise three Technicians who maintain the district equipment, and a System Administrator, who maintains the district network and servers. I am also responsible for the Network Engineering and Network Security. As well as, maintaining CIPA (Children's Internet Protection Act) and FERPA (Family Educational Rights & Privacy Act) requirements for all staff and students. I have implemented policies for Incident Response, 1 to 1 device issuing for students grades 5 through 12, and a Bring Your Own Device Policy.
I am the chair of the Technology Committee where I meet monthly with teachers to discuss initiatives, and policies that affect that. Giving them perspective and allowing for their feedback and input into decision making from the Technology Department and the district administration.
The spring of 2020 was a challenging time in this role. We managed to issue devices to all students in need in three days, as well as received and distributed hot-spots for students without home internet. The district returned to full in-person learning in the Fall of 2020 with the ability for teachers to seemlessly transition to remote instruction through persistent planning and training from the Technology Department.
Key Responsibilities
- Responsible for oversight and direction of the Technology Department
- Maintain network to ensure network availability and security for all users
- Supervise network support and plan, coordinate, and implement network security measures
- Responsible for all aspects of technology maintenance for the district
- Coordinate with building administrators, and Executive administration to meet technology needs for all
- Created technology vision for the district and developed plans for implementation
- Developed 1:1 device initiative ahead of COVID-19 to ensure students had access to devices and internet access
System Administrator
January 2017 to May 2018
As the district's System Administrator, I completed a wireless upgrade that resulted in a wireless access point in every classroom and instructional area. At the same time, I upgraded the district network from old 3Com switches to Extreme switches with 10 gigabit trunks.
My responsibilites included maintaining the district's wired and wireless networks. Before my time in this role, the district's network was flat, and unsegmented. The switching upgrades allowed me to segment and harden the network. Upon completion of the network upgrades, I implemented a single-sign-on solution through a partner (Classlink) which allowed for student account creation to become automated, saving countless hours and dollars for the district and Technology Department.
Key Responsibilities
- Maintained and administered district network and servers for 400 staff and 2600 students
- Responsible for day-to-day administration, troubleshooting, and maintenance of a mixed network environment (Windows, Chromebooks, Mac, Linux, and iOS Devices)
- Maintained district network, wireless, and security with a 99.9% SLA
- Managed user accounts, security groups, and GPOs
- Implemented a Single-Sign-On solution and new helpdesk platform
- Established and Managed end-point Data-Loss-Prevention program
Technology Technician III
September 2015 to January 2017
My role of Technology Technician (level III) placed me at the High School, maintaining all of the devices in and even out of the building. The role of System Administrator hadn't been created yet (this required a Bond to pass in the fall of 2016). So, I dove in and took on the responsibilities of that role had it existed.
While in this role I was responsible for the datacenter at the High School, which consisted of numerous SANs (Storage Area Network), and aging servers, on top of user created tickets. I was also thrown into the fire with state standardized testing and was shortly named the district Technology Coordinator for Testing.
One of the most interesting aspects of this position was that I was put in charge of training and mentoring a Technician I, and assisted at the locations they were assigned. I enjoyed sharing my knowledge and helping with their day-to-day tasks. I still have the reputation in the schools that if I show up, it is going to get fixed.
- Responsible for managing, setting-up, installing, maintaining, and upgrading district data networks
- Imaged, repaired, troubleshot computer hardware and software
- Managed and completed work tickets district-wide - assisted with training other technicians on troubleshooting techniques
- Acted as a resource to district personnel regarding network and computer software and hardware issues