By NEIL ZOLOT
WAKEFIELD – A new element of electronic device support in the school system this year has been the Technology Support Help Desk, manned by Information Technology staff Monday-Thursday 7:30 a.m. to noon.
Technology Director Jeff Weiner said staff members were among the School Department’s Educational Technology Facilitators during in his State of Technology 2023 report to the School Committee on Tuesday.
The Technology Department staff of five plus other faculty receiving stipends for their time support the district’s Internet services, over 3,500 student devices, over 340 teacher devices, 290 projectors, 42 copier/printers, security systems, HVAC systems and building access systems. “Our team is really strong,” Weiner feels. “Anything that plugs in and turns on, we’re looking at.”
School Committee member Stephen Ingalls interjected he was impressed by the range of systems the Technology Dept. is monitoring. “It’s impressive,” he said.
All students K-8 are given a device while high school students are allowed to use their own, with support provided when possible. Weiner explained some devices work better than others depending on the subject. No student has a device more than three years old, but older devices are kept and used as backups and for tests. “We keep them and use them as long as they’re usable, usually for about five years,” he said.
All teachers and paraprofessionals have a device less than two years old and are still able to use video-conferencing for meetings if necessary. “We’ve been using it even after COVID,” Weiner said. “It saves travel time.”
Cyber security has been an area of increased focus. “We’re digging deeper into cyber security after watching the news and seeing what’s happening,” Weiner said. This includes protection of personal information and from scams, i.e. phishing e-mails that sometimes look like official documents. “We want people not to respond to those,” Weiner said. “We usually hear from a person who did something and then asks what to do now?”
Another new element is monitoring projectors and other devices to see if they’re off to reduce energy costs.
—————
Food Services Director Dustin O’Brien also gave school board members an update, including information on composting organic trash at the Greenwood and Walton schools and eliminating styrofoam.
He also discussed the Food Rescue Program and donations to the Boys and Girls Club of Stoneham and Wakefield, a Food Drive in Melrose and plans for a summer meal program with the Wakefield Food Pantry.
O’Brien’s main area of concern, however, was the status of the meals subsidized by the state. “Our most pressing item is possible discontinuation next year,” he said. “We’ve been checking meal price data. Our last price increase was in 2015 and there have been cost increases since then. We’d like to be prepared.”
He added a decision about the 2023-24 year will be made over the summer.
As he has in past meetings, Ingalls sounded a note of caution. “No one is paying attention to cost increases because meals are free,” he said.
O’Brien also said he and his staff have been working with architects of the new high school on kitchen design. “Having been through this in my last district (Belmont), we feel we’re well positioned to give input,” he said.
—————
The May 2 School Committee will be held at METCO headquarters, 11 Roxbury St., Boston to make it easy for METCO parents to attend a meeting. “We do it to meet parents whose children live in Boston,” School Business Administrator Christine Bufagna explained. “It’s difficult for them to get here.”
The meeting will start at 7 p.m. preceded by a tour of the METCO Exhibition Hall at 6 and dinner with METCO families at 6:30. It will be the first such meeting since before the pandemic. “For a few years prior to COVID, the School Committee would hold one meeting annually in Boston to conduct routine business and meet with our Boston students and their families,” chair Tom Markham said. “I’m pleased we are able to bring back this practice as it is important to offer access to Wakefield’s Boston students and families to meet with the School Committee and share common interests and concerns. We are the School Committee and administration for our Boston students too.”
There will be no access to the meeting via electronic means.