They are like a triage team for computers.

With so many new students rolling into Elkhart High, the Technology Services Department has been busy with setting up and fixing all of the student iPads. Erin Burleson, who works primarily with Apple Care Returns, explains: “Last year, I was sending in almost 100 iPads a week–and I thought that was a lot! But, there have been many more now,” she adds. “When iPads come in, it’s a long process to fix them, clean them, and clean the cases.” 

DJ Rhoades, Technical Support Manager, agrees and tries to offer an explanation for the hectic schedule his staff is encountering. “It has been a trouble keeping up with all the iPads that we are sending out to schools,” he begins. “It’s somewhat because of the transfer students and somewhat because of iPads that were broken or lost over the summer–and nobody putting in any tickets until the school year started!” Continuing on, Rhoades adds, “It was mostly because of the start of school when everyone needed iPads and they either didn’t have them or theirs was broken. Since we are now doing iPads for the entire district,” he concludes, “we struggle with not having enough staffing to keep up with the demand.”

Although moving in a positive direction, the stress level within Tech Services has been high. Data & Assessment Coordinator Jennifer Smith states, “When students transfer to ECS, our office has to ensure that all of the student information is accurate in PowerSchool for state reporting. These reports are important for a variety of reasons,” she states, “including funding and accountability.” Smith notes that the new process for state reporting requires a lot more student data than in the past. “This can be a tedious task,” she adds, “especially if some data is not entered when the student is initially enrolled.”

Although secretaries, registrars, counselors, and other school staff have been critical in these efforts to get all data accurate and up-to-date in PowerSchool, it is still the Tech Services staff who are operating in the “emergency room” of technology.