Back to April SBOE Meeting Highlights
Last Updated in 2018
Board Briefed on Plans to Update
The Long-Range Plan for Technology
The SBOE received a briefing (agenda/webcast-click Item 21) from TEA staff on plans to begin the process to update the board’s Long-Range Plan for Technology, which was adopted in 2018 and set educational technology goals through 2023.

Melody Parrish, the TEA’s deputy commissioner for technology, said that the intent has always been to revisit each successive long-range technology plan every two or three years to address rapidly evolving technology changes — changes that advanced even more rapidly since the 2018 report due to the response to the pandemic that put state funded devices into the hands of millions of students.

Some of the areas that Parrish said would likely be re-examined in updating the plan included giving school districts up-to-date advice regarding:
  • Device management, especially as more districts move toward a ratio of one electronic device per student — and due to the state, via the Operation Connectivity response to the pandemic, distributing 3.5 million devices (computers, Chromebooks, internet hot- spots, etc.) to schools.

    At the time the current plan was adopted about three years ago, the norm was that a typical classroom might have four or five computers, Parrish said.

  • The need to “refresh” (replace) devices. Parrish said that with the influx of the new devices, districts are “really, really worried” about the need to eventually replace those devices.

    Parrish gave an example of the TEA’s expectation that its laptops would last seven years. But, due to the pandemic, with agency employees taking their laptops home frequently, the devices are needing to be replaced more quickly, Parrish said.

  • Cybersecurity and ransomware. Although there will always continue to be risks, schools will have to make a decision on how much risk they actually want to take on.

    “You’re not going to be 100 percent secure, but you can be 90 percent secure,” Parrish said, adding that school boards will need to assess the level of risk they are willing to take.

    Parrish also said a recommendation might be made for districts to consider hiring an outside entity — just as the TEA and other state agencies are required to do at least every few years — to evaluate how secure their technological systems are, and what improvements can be made.

SBOE member Will Hickman, R-Houston, added that internet filtering should also be included in the plan, and noted that his own children have become proficient hackers in bypassing parental controls.

Parrish said the work on updating the plan will include involvement by school districts, vendors and various other stakeholders (and the TEA’s Operation Connectivity consultant). The updated plan, when ready, will be brought to the board for consideration and approval.