IT Consolidation- Part I

The Longmeadow Select Board started its discussion of the consolidation of the Information Technology (IT) organizations of town government and schools at the SB's August 23 goal setting session at the First Church (see my earlier post).  From the outset it appeared that the goal was to re-organize IT services with the School Department assuming complete responsibility for town wide support including people and resources.

A recent survey showed the following town wide IT support areas...

• serving 50 different departments, boards and committees
• housed in 13 different buildings
• with over 700 employees and 3100 students
• deployment of over 2000 computers, laptops, projectors, printers, etc. that are connected to over 150 servers and network devices
• using over 100 different applications

The School Dept IT needs are in many cases very different from town government needs with financial and other business related software being extremely important to the successful town government operations. Current town related IT headcount is 1 while the School Dept has ~ 5.7 employees (only 1 FT- 12 months/year employee).  Storrs Library depends upon the town to provide computer IT support and from my involvement this support has been almost non-existent for many years.
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One stumbling block to the proposed IT consolidation...
Our 6½ year old Town Charter (Section 6-2) states that the Dept of Finance and Administration is responsible for the town government IT and led by the Finance Director (currently Paul Pasterczyk).

Section 6-2 Department of Finance and Administration
(a) Establishment and Scope - there shall be a department of finance and administration responsible for the fiscal affairs of the town and for the coordination and overall supervision of all business, fiscal, and financial activities of all town agencies, including the school department. The department of finance and administration shall include the functions of accounting, tax and fee collections, treasury management, assessing, purchasing, contracting, information technology, town clerk’s functions, personnel functions and those functions further assigned by the town manager.
(b) The department shall be subject to the direction of a finance director who shall be appointed by, and directly responsible to, the town manager. The finance director shall serve at the pleasure of the town manager and shall be especially fitted by education, training and experience for the duties of the office. The finance director may also serve simultaneously as town accountant; or collector; or treasurer, but may not serve as town accountant and collector simultaneously.
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This Charter "stumbling block" apparently has now been resolved by the use of an "administrative code" (as defined in Section 6-1) and outlined in a letter issued by TM Robin Crosbie...
 
"The Longmeadow Select Board will conduct a hearing on Monday November 15 at 8:00 pm on a proposed re-organization under Section 6-1 of the Charter. The proposed administrative code, submitted by the Town Manager to the Select Board, would consolidate town Information Technology (IT) with school IT, and place IT operations and budget under the school department. Staff and officials representing the town and school have been working since late summer and placed a proposal before the Select Board on November 1. The proposal anticipates that a consolidation will be more effective and efficient in coordinating IT purchases and implementation of new technology. The plan also proposes the formation of a Technology Advisory Board to assist personnel and policy makers in developing a strategic plan and advise them on future needs. The School Committee will be discussing this proposal at its November 8 meeting."

Below are video clips (courtesy of LCTV) from the November 1 SB meeting where the latest IT consolidation discussions took place.





Below is a video clip from the School Committee meeting on November 8 during which IT consolidation was discussed.



Given the role of technology in the operation of both schools and town government, I agree that the Town of Longmeadow has not properly funded nor organized its IT effort.  This is particularly true with regard to town government IT services.

In my next post I will propose an alternative organizational proposal for consideration by the SB.

The Issue

What is before Longmeadow voters?

We have 1 issue to decide tomorrow night: whether to accept Commonwealth money earmarked for Longmeadow's High School, or to reject that offer.

Yes or no.

If we vote no, there is not another plan waiting in the wings. We would need to start from square one, and the money the Commonwealth held for us will go back into their general pool for building projects. The LHS would not get repaired; nothing constructive would happen as a result of a no vote.

If we choose YES, however, we benefit in many ways. One way is through the favorable economic climate for such large scale projects. Our interest rate would be at an historic low, and construction bids would likely come in lower than at another time. Evidence from other districts bears this out. Another way is that the timeframe for building would be expedited. Two years--two years without kids in trailers.

The Finance Committee's opinions on this project matter to some degree, since they are the long range planning financial group for Town Meeting. As of this writing, they have not presented Longmeadow with a long range plan, however. Any informal discussion that they may have had regarding other projects is uninformed by a variety of factors: What is the cost for each item? Will we receive grants or other aid from the state or federal government for such projects? There are too many unknowns for the FC to make any valid claim about the future. It is a shame that our FC would waste time discussing that which they have no control over.

Aristotle even classifies deliberation as that which includes practical matters within people’s power (In The Rhetoric, 1359a); there are too many unknowns for them to deliberate about such possible future items. They are inconsequential to the issue before us.

We know the consequences of inaction-voting no. We know the benefits of acting positively with a YES vote. Those concerns, plus our values and interests, are legitimate to consider. I hope Town Meeting decides to keep its eyes on the prize.

Rebecca M. Townsend

A message from Longmeadow School District

The message below is from Ms. Jahn Hart, Superintendent- Longmeadow Public Schools concerning President Obama’s Address to School Children.

As you know, the Longmeadow Public Schools will be taping President Barack Obama’s national address on Tuesday for future viewing after review by the principals and their staff. Our administrators will determine the appropriate venue and logistical arrangements for sharing the speech. The stated purpose of the message to speak to the nation’s children and youth about persisting and succeeding in school is, of course, one that we support and value.

The decision to postpone the airing of the speech was not a policy decision by the School Committee, but an operational decision by the administration. Let me clarify the reasons for that decision, which involved much more that a reaction to concerns about the message and which were guided by a desire to provide the very best educational setting for our students to receive the message. Here are the multiple logistical challenges that faced our schools:

• The communication about this speech from Secretary Duncan was made directly to school principals in late August. School superintendents were not contacted. Several of our principals did not receive the original communication and did not learn about the event until Thursday, September 3rd. That allowed them 2 days to make all of the necessary preparations and to communicate with parents about opt-out provisions for their children.

• We did not hear from Commissioner Chester, Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, on this issue until midday on Friday. His message includes the following key statements:

“If the timing of this speech works with your school schedules you may want to make arrangements to allow students to view the speech. . . “ and “That said, we recognize that the speech has generated some controversy . . . Commissioner Chester asks that if you do have students watch the speech, to please respect the requests of any parents who ask that their child not participate.”

• The President's speech is intended to be part of a larger classroom activity that involves writing and discussion. None of our schools has the capability to air the speech in every classroom at the same time. It would need to be viewed in larger group settings that would not support such learning activities.

• Our schools are not equipped for instant, live viewing of broadcasts in large group settings. When we made arrangements for viewing the Presidential Inauguration, we had almost 2 months to accommodate our technology and logistical needs.

• This event will occur during the noon lunch time. Arranging for students to view the speech “live” would require changing school schedules, including lunch, with very short notice at the beginning of the school year.

• Since many parents have requested that their children not view the live broadcast, we would have to make arrangements for those students to be identified and separated from their peers into another location, supervised by adults and engaged in an alternate activity.

• Reviewing the speech will allow our principals and teachers to determine the best settings for using the message in the classroom to integrate with curriculum - by grade level and subject area and will allow us to plan the most appropriate and respectful venue for those lessons. Also, our teachers would have an opportunity to modify the recommended lesson plans as appropriate by age and for alignment with curriculum. In addition, we will be able to manage the technology requirements for viewing.

• Our school district respects the President and believes that the stated purposes of the speech are worthwhile. Nevertheless, (1) we are challenged by the constraints of our technology to offer all students equal access to the live message in the appropriate classroom setting and (2) we look forward to the opportunity to make informed decisions about the best use of the speech in an appropriate classroom environment.

• While we would prefer that this event were devoid of political overtones and controversy, it is not. Therefore, we must make decisions in the context of that environment. It is our hope that after viewing the speech and learning of our plans for utilizing the message in the classroom setting, the concerns of parents will be allayed and the environment in which children view the speech will be conducive to learning, rather than confusion and possible tension.

• Once plans for future viewing of the speech are made, they will be conveyed to parents, who can then make an informed decision about their child’s participation.

• On Tuesday, parents are welcome to dismiss their children from school prior to noon to view the live broadcast at home, if they wish.

Please note, however, that the speech will be available on the Internet and on television for later viewing, and we would encourage parents not to dismiss their children, but to take advantage of the opportunity to view the message with their children after school, and to await announcements about our plans for school viewing.

• I should also add that ultimately the decision to postpone the airing of the President’s speech and to have the administrators jointly decide how to best plan for future airing within each of their buildings was mine – that of the Superintendent of Schools. I chose not to put each of them in the difficult situation of having to handle those plans alone and without collaboration.

• To reiterate, the administration of the Longmeadow Public Schools has great respect for the President of the United States and looks forward to viewing his message and to planning the appropriate use of the message at a future date.

E. Jahn Hart/ Superintendent, Longmeadow Public Schools