Pine-Richland hires first in-house technology director
The day Shawn Stoebener started his position as the first director of technology for the Pine-Richland School District, the school board agreed to purchase more than 200 laptops and a half-dozen carts to tote them in. That was March 23.
It’s that kind of district commitment to technology that excites Mr. Stoebener about his $83,000 a year job.
“I’m really looking forward to the work,” said Mr. Stoebener.
Until recently, the district had used only contracted service providers to meet its technology operational needs. Now, Mr. Stoebener will be on hand to “set the vision,” as he described it.
District spokeswoman Rachel Hathhorn said “improved integration of technology” is a “strategic” goal for the district. “Having a dedicated person in-house will help direct this initiative,” she said.
Mr. Stoebener, 31, of Harrison comes to the district from Avonworth, where he was a contractor with a local technology firm, Questeq. He essentially was the district’s director of technology.
Raised in the Natrona Heights section of Harrison, he graduated in 2001 from St. Joseph High School in Natrona
Heights and earned a bachelor’s degree in information technology from Slippery Rock University in 2005.
He was hired by Slippery Rock following graduation, then worked with the Regional Learning Alliance in Marshall from 2010 to 2013, initially hired as a technician before being promoted to director of technology. He received a master’s degree in information technology from Robert Morris University in 2013.
His top priority is to devise “a sustainable technology refresh plan” — in other words, a feasible plan for the replacement and cycling of the district’s technology, both hardware and software.
“The strategic part is making sure you have the right devices in the right places to support your curriculum and all facets of district operations. Technology plays a role in every part of education and district operations,” he said.
Mr. Stoebener said he is encouraged by the district’s commitment to remain current.
On his first day, the school board approved purchase of seven COWS (computers on wheels), which are essentially carts that haul laptops.
Purchase of more than 200 laptops also was approved.
They will be used at the high school and middle school.
Also to be purchased are new teacher laptops for Eden Hall faculty and staff.
Mr. Stoebener said he’s reviewing the technology infrastructure of the district: “That’s another fancy way of talking about how things connect — wiring, servers. It’s making sure we have what we need to make the computers talk,” he said.
He envisions working with an overall IT audit to help prioritize the purchase of new computers.
He said, for example, that 488 Mac computers at the Eden Hall school are about 5 years old “so we know that, moving forward, we’ll have to address that,” he said, noting that the average lifespan of a computer is three to five years — a little longer with Macs.
He’ll continue to work with the district’s contracted service provider, Vartek.