LEWISTON — The School Department will spend as much as $133,000 to hire two new people for the technology department.
A third hire has been contracted through the Lewiston Education Association. All three positions are unbudgeted.
The department is “absolutely overwhelmed” by the pandemic workload, Technology Director David Theriault told the School Committee on Monday night.
Lewiston Public Schools has increased its number of devices for students by 47% so each can have internet access for remote instruction. More than 5,000 students are enrolled districtwide.
“We basically in the past nine months expanded to one-to-one by six grade levels,” Theriault said. That includes all students and all teachers.
“The problem is that it is unsustainable for us to continue to work at the level we are working now,” he told the committee.
He said he had 61 days of vacation on the books that he has not been able to take. He tried to take four days but ended up having to work three and on the fourth day, he had to work two hours, he said.
“I am maxed out,” he said.
He asked the committee to hire a technology integrator to help manage devices at the district’s five elementary schools. They share one integrator, he said.
He also asked for a higher-level technician to help with hardware issues and an assistant director to help with teaching and training.
In a memo to the School Committee, Superintendent Jake Langlais recommended adding the three positions.
He said the Information Technology Department covers two main areas of responsibility: hardware, network, phones, photo copiers, inventory, budgeting and compliance; and software, apps, teaching and learning strategies, training staff and students and the overall development of use of tools for education.
“We have a lot of new equipment and a massive need to integrate technology,” he wrote in the memo.
The School Committee voted 6-3 in favor of the hires, with Chairwoman Megan Parks, Lynnea Hawkins and Ron Potvin voting against.
Hawkins asked the committee to be patient and wait for the finance subcommittee to make a recommendation.
Potvin said he believed the request was “COVID-driven” and the additional staff might not be needed when a vaccine is widely available, or the virus stops spreading.
“We need to look at the justification,” he said. “Could there be a one-year temporary position to help get us through this?”
The Finance Committee, which he chairs, needs to understand the long-range goals of each department before funding anything new, he said.
“What is the plan for tech in a year? What is the plan for tech in five years?” he said. “This is a six-figure ask.”
Committee member Kiernan Majerus-Collins made the motion to fund all three new positions.
He said he recognized the concerns of some School Committee members, but he noted that the need for technology “will only grow.” The administration wouldn’t ask for it if it weren’t needed, he said.
“There is an incredible urgency to get the process started and to have the support in place if we decide or we are told to go remote,” he said.
The unbudgeted positions would have impacts on the budget now and in the future, Langlais said Tuesday.
He said the new positions would be helpful, though.
“Technology has become an integral part of teaching and learning,” he said.
He said Monday night that the pay range “comparable” to other districts for an assistant director would be $60,000 to $71,000.
The top of the scale for the higher-level technician would be $62,000, Langlais said. The technology integrator would be paid a teacher’s salary, which has already been negotiated.
He was uncertain where the money would come from, he told the committee Monday.
“We would look at unfilled positions and grab any money we could from there,” he said.
As of Nov. 24, the district had 100 open positions. These included coaches and substitutes, 69 education technicians and eight teachers.
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