W’Burg Ind. tech plan discussed by board of education

Williamsburg Independent School is continuing to make technology upgrades to help create better, more fluid learning environments for both students and teachers.

During the Williamsburg Independent Board of Education’s recent regular monthly meeting, Director of Technology Parker Smith provided the board with some information regarding the district’s 2023-2024 technology plan.

According to Smith, updates have already been done in elementary classrooms that replaced teacher desktop computers with Chromebooks to allow for more mobility.

“It’s mostly been a success. Some people still want it sitting in one spot that never moves, but we’re working on that,” said Smith.

Smith also informed board members that the district’s two information technology apprentices have completed their program with Dataseam—a Louisville-based workforce development organization that has been partnering with school districts throughout the Tri-County and neighboring areas for several years to provide a variety of tech to schools.

As part of the program with Dataseam, participating students are required to do dedicated coursework aside from their regular classes and receive on-job training mentorships with their respective school districts. With that apprenticeship, students get to work with their school’s IT department to apply what they have learned while also getting paid to do so.

“They’ve been a great help,” said Smith. “I hope they’ve learned as much from me as I did from them.”

The two students are the first to participate in the program at Williamsburg. Smith said that he will be adding two more students for the coming year and plans to use a junior and senior combination so that he can add one junior each year as the senior completes the program and graduates.

In other board of education business:

– The board welcomed the district’s new finance officer, Shawnee Sulfridge. Sulfridge takes over the role from Jimmy Hall, who has served in that position for several years. The board also approved to add Sulfridge to the school district’s various money and credit accounts.

– The 2023-2024 tentative budget was approved.

The tentative budget is the second of three budgets required annually of all school districts by the Kentucky Department of Education. A draft is done in January, which becomes a tentative budget by May and then a final, working budget in September.

– A special-called meeting of the board was held Monday evening, where board members met for approximately one hour in a closed executive session for a review of Superintendent Tim Melton’s contract. No action was taken.