ExecutiveSummary

=**Executive Summary 2010-2013**= The San Antonio Independent School District (SAISD) Technology ePlan is intended to cover all aspects of the use of technology in the SAISD for the next three calendar years. The goals and objectives, as well as the mission and vision for technology are aligned with those set by the SAISD Board of Education. Since technology is a moving target, and new and emerging technologies are becoming available daily, the ePlan is intended as a framework upon which we can build, not as an end all. All students and employees of the District will benefit from this plan. To realize the plan, the Board has made the commitment to dedicate a portion of all funds toward the annual total budget for technology. This document represents a work in progress. As the Plan is evaluated, items of need will be added; those that have been completed will be removed.

While conditions may have changed both within the District and in the world at large, the essential elements for our successful implementation of technology in schools remain the same. These include:


 * Access:** We ensure that students, staff, parents, and the local community have appropriate, equitable, and convenient access to the uses and tools of modern technology for information handling, communication, learning, instruction, and management in the educational setting (technology infrastructure, equity, currency and access).


 * Professional Learning:** We provide training systems to ensure successful use of current and emerging technologies by students, staff, parents, and the community. This training focuses on role-specific applications and high-yield strategies for integrating these.


 * Support:** We maintain and enhance support systems (instructional coaching, technical support, troubleshooting, installation, maintenance, repair, acquisitions, plant services) for the use of technology that will ensure successful experiences by students, staff, parents, and the community (adequacy and timeliness).


 * Communication:** We provide students, staff, parents, and community with a modern and effective communications system and infrastructure which includes a network that links schools, classrooms, libraries, businesses, home, governmental agencies, and others within and outside the District (connectivity).

Technology in the San Antonio Independent School District will continue to play a major role in learning and teaching, in administration and information systems, and in the inclusion of parents and the community in the enterprise of education. At the center of the district's mission is student learning and productivity. Measured by benchmarks of student and staff progress, technology initiatives on each of these three fronts are critical to the district's success with technology and to its overall success in achieving the shared vision.

The Long Range Technology Planning team has developed a flexible and ambitious set of goals for SAISD technology acquisition, implementation, and assessment. During these years, the Team will add representatives of stakeholders from the community and from other departments of the SAISD structure to ensure appropriate representation. The Team's role will include planning for the district information and communications infrastructure and for enhanced support for campus technology decision-making and self-sufficiency. The Team also recognizes the need to integrate technology planning with shared site-based decision-making at each campus. Site-based planning teams will develop campus-level technology audits and recommendations, including plans for special programs and extramural funding, which reflect utilization of technology consistent with the framework of the district plan.

Our general commitments for the upcoming years include:
 * 1) Ongoing revision and review of the Long Range Technology Plan,
 * 2) Increased and improved client support and empowerment for all SAISD campuses and departments, with special emphasis on expanded infrastructure and connectivity,
 * 3) Development of strategies to maintain or reduce the total cost of ownership (TCO) in technology while simultaneously upgrading hardware capabilities,
 * 4) Continual improvement to administrative and student systems to ensure PEIMS data quality, with an expanded intranet and Internet capability for student support services to ensure effective, efficient, and timely auxiliary, administrative, and record-keeping services (counseling, scheduling, placement, special services, transportation, security, food services, attendance, achievement, discipline, health, and social services). Additional intranet and Internet capabilities will ensure effective, efficient, and timely financial, business, personnel, and plant services (personnel management, calendaring, business operations, acquisitions, fixed assets, textbooks, plant maintenance, data reporting, evaluation, and security services),
 * 5) Effective extramural funding programs through grants and partnerships,
 * 6) Ongoing instructional initiatives that integrate technology into the District’s classrooms.
 * 7) Facilitating online learning opportunities for K-12, as well as adult, learners.
 * 8) While campuses will have flexibility in detailed implementation of technology, the district will maintain non-negotiables for both learners and for staff, and
 * 9) Constant review and revision of the District’s professional learning/development programs