Author Archives: Stan Jester

Virtual Classrooms – The Future of DeKalb Schools

Posted on May 16, 2020 | 43 comments
Stan Jester - DeKalb Schools Board of Education

The school year is virtually wrapping up. I look like Grizzly Adams and I’ve officially gained the Quarantine 15.

The big question: What will school be like when we start in August?

As an indicator, Class of 2020 Graduation Ceremonies will be virtual in June. Face to face graduation ceremonies are possible in July or August depending on the COVID-19 guidance and social distancing requirements.

My thoughts on the BOE Race

There is still no definitive plan for what school will look like when it opens in August. However, DeKalb Schools is full speed ahead planning on school in traditional classrooms as well as Virtual Classrooms.

VIRTUAL CLASSROOMS
The lock down has introduced many of us to the wonders of video conferencing. Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Slack, Google Hangouts and now Facebook has come out with Messenger Rooms. I asked Stacy Stepney, DeKalb Schools’ Chief Academic Officer, to give us some insight into the future of Virtual Classrooms at DeKalb Schools.

Stacy Stepney DeKalb Schools

STACY STEPNEY
DeKalb Schools – Chief Academic Officer

In an effort to prepare for next year, the District is developing professional learning for administrators and teachers focusing on how to effectively teach in a virtual learning environment, how to monitor student learning, how to plan engaging lessons, and how to provide a healthy balance virtually.

With the recent purchase of Microsoft Teams licenses for our teachers, we are able to connect with students and parents through the audio/video conference feature. Teachers have begun using the audio/video conference feature to facilitate student conferences and parent conferences and introduce new standards using PowerPoint presentations, notes, instructional software, and/or live lectures and demonstrations.

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Personally, I like Slack messaging and conferencing for business. Zoom is a solid and simple stand alone video conferencing tool with good administrator capabilities. Microsoft Teams, like everything else Microsoft does, is rich and thick and chocolaty with all kinds of functionality that makes it a bit overwhelming.

Last month, DeKalb Schools Board approved 7,100 Microsoft Teams licenses at $11.50/license for a grand total of $82,000.

Derrick Brown is DeKalb Schools’ Interim Chief Information Officer. I asked him why the school district recommended Microsoft Teams for school house video conferencing.

Derrick Brown DeKalb Schools

DERRICK BROWN
DeKalb Schools – Chief Information Officer

Zoom’s pricing for state, local and government institutions is approximately $14/person annually. Microsoft Office 365 is infused and heavily integrated into our ecosystem and currently operating on more than 90,000 devices including servers using Microsoft’s operating system. Attached is the memo we sent to all employees on April 7th regarding video conferencing.

Teachers are welcome to use any FERPA compliant video/audio tools they choose.

Here’s a summary from Microsoft
Microsoft Teams Capacity and District Examples: celebrated the 3rd anniversary of Microsoft Teams and how customers are staying connected/productive amidst the global COVID-19 pandemic. Microsoft also shared updated global capacity now at 44M daily active users – up 12M with over 900 million meeting/calling minutes in the last 7 days – including 93 of the Fortune 100 now using Microsoft Teams.

K-12 short list using Microsoft Teams:
• Fulton
• Cherokee
• Cobb
• Miami Dade
• New York City Department of Education

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INTEROFFICE MEMORANDUM

To: All DCSD Teachers and Instructional Support
From: Monika Davis, Executive Director of Innovation and Information
Through: Derrick Brown, Chief Information Officer
Subject: Video Conferencing Information for DCSD Students, Employees, and Families
Date: April 7, 2020

DeKalb County School District is striving to continuously improve virtual learning and the online experience for students, employees and families. To this point, you may be aware that Zoom video conferencing is getting a lot of attention both positively and negatively. We understand that many of our teachers were resourceful and began utilizing Zoom to stay in touch with students and families. Although our school district is not banning this tool, we would like to offer some information, guidance, and best practices as it pertains to safety and security when utilizing web conferencing with students.

District-Supported Options with District-Owned Devices
DCSD currently supports three video conferencing options for use with district-owned devices.

· VERGE has a video conferencing feature for teachers to use with up to 10 students at a time.
· Microsoft Teams will be available for teachers to use individually or with entire classes of students starting April 13, 2020.
· Google Hangouts has video conferencing capability available for staff to staff communication only.

Be advised that student Chromebook cameras are disabled for two-way video use. Cameras are activated on student devices when a teacher initiates or creates a Microsoft Teams or VERGE web conference with students. Again, this is only when using district-supported devices. DCSD cannot control personal teacher and student devices. For this reason, we recommend that employees use their personal devices when using the Zoom application for optimal access.

Training and Support
Training on VERGE, Microsoft Teams, and Google Hangouts can be found on our IGNITE U internal portal:

https://dcsd.sharepoint.com/sites/IGNITEU/SitePages/GO-Virtual!-Digital-Learning-Tools-&-Resources.aspx

Stay connected for ongoing updates and training opportunities.

Security and Privacy Best Practices
Security and privacy for our students should be at forefront of our minds. Here are some best practices from Common Sense Media: https://www.commonsensemedia.org/blog/how-to-get-kids-ready-to-video-chat-for-online-classes

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Posted in Information Technology

Superintendent Search & Anna Hill, CPA, For Board of Education

Posted on May 13, 2020 | 33 comments

DeKalb Schools continues to look for the right Superintendent. The vote on Monday on DeKalb Schools’ sole finalist brings to light why I strongly suggest that you take a look at voting for Anna Hill, CPA, for DeKalb County School Board of Education, District #1 in the upcoming June election.

Superintendent Vote

The DeKalb Schools Board of Education has been in the news recently (WSBTV-2, AJC) regarding our search for the next Superintendent. I did not favor hiring the finalist that was presented to the public. Some of my objections are the same as those voiced by constituents and community members. Some of my objections were internal process problems.

I am grateful that the majority of our Board listened to the community and worked together and earnestly to do what they saw was in the best interests of students, communities, and taxpayers. While I think the finalist announcement was rushed and unwise, characterizing the outcome as a failure is simply not accurate. The children, communities, and taxpayers are always better off when mistakes in leadership choices are averted, even when these choices make some people uncomfortable.

Election – DeKalb Schools Board of Education

All of this has me thinking about what I’m seeing in the current campaign to be the next Board of Education member from District 1. I have chosen not to seek reelection. There are 2 candidates seeking this position. Hill’s opposition recently posted on Facebook some statements on the search and subsequent vote on Monday.

My thoughts on some of his statements

“If Mr. Jester was so concerned about the choice, why did he not come up with valid arguments and persuade others to make a different choice?”

Everything about this part of his post shows his naivete and willful ignorance of the process. To suggest that I wasn’t “persuasive” is an ad hominem attack and demonstrably false as denoted by the vote.

This candidate went on to criticize the perspective and votes of BOE members from other districts; asking

“Why did Dr. Morely and Mr. DaCosta appear to change their minds, despite Dr. Morely saying today that she wasn’t against Dr. Crew? What happened behind those closed doors? Is there a better, second choice waiting?”

This is an odd critique given that this BOE candidate has consistently said that he is going to single-handedly change the tone and relationships on the BOE. It’s also condescending to those BOE members that took the time to listen to the public. The BOE can’t get public feedback on a candidate until the state mandated 14 day waiting period. Should BOE members not be responsive to the concerns of their community?

Did this candidate reach out to the other BOE members that voted “no”? He didn’t reach out to me. I suppose that’s par for the course for him.

He was involved in a school community group whose original mission included the statement, “Provide a forum for parents in Region 1 clusters of the DCSD to hear from DCSD leadership and School Board Members, and interact with those leaders”. At the time, I reached out to him on numerous occasions with no response in return. He ran a closed social media page for this “public group” that was not open to all parents or community members. He organized meetings of this school community group, held in a public building, with the administration about issues that were important to the whole community but did not permit public attendance. This established pattern, to oppose transparency and full participation of the community, is deeply troubling. It contradicts much of his campaign sloganeering. This candidate consistently campaigns on one thing while doing the exact opposite with in his public educational group.

Anna Hill, Certified Public Accountant – DeKalb Board of Education – District #1

There is a candidate that appears to be listening to the people of DeKalb, looking at the data, and adding value. Her name is Anna Hill.

Anna Hill DeKalb Schools Board of Education

Anna Hill is a CPA. She’s been engaged with the school district and BOE regarding the current problems with the audits. She met with Board members one-on-one to give them important information that was not being accurately represented to them by the former CFO.

DeKalb Schools lost their credit rating over the fiasco with the audits. That is proof positive of the need for a CPA to be on the Board. History has solidly indicated that DeKalb’s BOE needs to have a more assertive approach to the financial management of the district. Over the years I have tried to highlight many of the financial problems. You can’t fix the problems in schools if you aren’t managing the taxpayers’ money properly. The district will certainly be negatively impacted financially given the current economic crisis. Now more than ever, a CPA is needed on the Board.

I strongly suggest that you take a look at Anna Hill, CPA. I’m impressed with her.

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Posted in Superintendent Search

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