A $20 million investment in classroom equipment included 2,017 Promethean ActivBoards in classrooms, as well as teacher laptops. Moore said Jefferson Parish has 56 technology staff members for the entire district, which consists of 3,011 classrooms, 24,000 desktop computers, 15,000 laptops, and roughly 3.3 eMail messages sent each month.
“Our greatest challenge at this particular point is providing more working equipment in the classroom,” Moore said. This spring, the district plans to upgrade or replace about 500 computer labs.
Moore said a partnership between a district’s instructional and technology departments is key, as is supporting teachers with more on-site technology staff and automated help-desk support.
“For the future, we have inadequate funding to sustain and maintain technology. … Schools have lots of legacy equipment that needs to be updated and placed on a rotation schedule,” she said. The loss of funding includes the proposed elimination of the federal Enhancing Education Through Technology (EETT) grant program in the Obama administration’s 2011 federal budget proposal. Funds from EETT instead would be redirected into new programs that would maintain a heavy focus on how technology can improve learning, according to federal education officials.
Jefferson Parish is examining how it can best support and fund professional development for its current technologies, as well as summer in-service sessions for its teachers.
School technology leaders should “look at the budget crisis as an opportunity to really clean … house and try to drive some efficiency through the whole organization,” said Rich Kaestner, project director for CoSN’s Total Cost of Ownership, Value of Investment, and Green Computing initiatives.
For more advice on doing more with less, see:
Duncan: Ed tech can help cut costs
ASBO conference helps schools save money
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- In districts, reaching readiness, retention, and success - March 5, 2026
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