When I began as the IT Director, our department, not unlike others I had seen, was very disorganized and inefficient. I quickly realized that in order to move forward in any way, the employee structure would first need to be reorganized. At the time, the building tech staff was hired and overseen by the building principal and were often staffed by teachers with insufficient technical skills looking for an entry into the school system.

 

I reorganized the tech staffing structure to help fulfill the mission I had presented to the staff at the time, “It will work, and you will know how to use it.” The existing low paid, low-skill building level staff were replaced by fewer, roaming technicians and a district technology trainer, all with pay comparable to teachers and tech skills far outpacing them. Despite a steep learning curve, the benefits were almost immediate and the ability to fulfill the mission was vastly improved.

 

Turnover in the tech staff dropped dramatically: in over ten years only two staff have left. This was the last accomplishment that I alone achieved. Our tech team as a unit, made possible everything that has happened since and, likewise, we could have made no real progress without each of them, together.