At the May 20 meeting of the Eastern Camden County Regional School District Board of Education, the district outlined development of new processes for managing computers at the high school.
According to district technology technician Nicky Ashmen, the district utilizes a process known as “monolithic imaging” where technicians take a single computer, design it to look and operate as they want every other computer in the school to look, and push that image out to every computer in the school.
Ashmen said the process is long and isn’t the best way for technology staff to spend their time, so instead, a new system will be implemented.
The new management system will involve an application software or APP on the computer where the technology staff can push out other applications to the teachers as needed.
“The teachers will take more ownership of their computer, and then the teachers can install the applications that they want as they need them, instead of us putting applications on the computer that they may never need or never want to use,” Ashmen said.
Although Ashmen said the technology staff would be giving teachers a feeling as if they were an administrator on the computer, the teachers still wouldn’t be able to install anything that didn’t already have technology staff approval, and installations could only be done through the specific application in question.
“It makes our job easier and it gives more ownership to the teachers because they’ll feel like it’s more like their computer because they’re controlling what they’re putting on it,” Ashmen said.
In other news:
• According to Superintendent Harold Melleby, the district is reopening its search for a director of special services. Although the district had previously interviewed several candidates, no suitable candidate was found.
Melleby said the job is a tough position, and recently learned that in Burlington County alone, there are six school districts looking for a director or supervisor of special services.
Melleby said the position was recently advertised once again, and the district was very hopeful and wanted to conduct the first round of interviews for a new batch of candidates the first week of June.
• The incoming number of students for next year’s freshman class is about 540, up from the 490 in the current class. As the district underwent the class scheduling process, it was discovered that there was a significant increase in the number of students who wish to take Latin classes.
However, the district only has one Latin teacher, but with the increased interest in the subject, three sections of Latin I would be necessary.
As of now, the students will need to undergo a lottery system for class placement, but according to Melleby, the district hopes to possibly work with neighboring districts and share another Latin teacher to rectify the situation, which could be approved by the board as soon as the June board meeting.
• Parent Lucia DiNapoli spoke during the public comment portion of the meeting.
She thanked the board and the district for the wonderful things it has done over the years, but said she wanted to put a “seed in their mind” regarding the school’s music program.
She said she felt the discipline and the perseverance imparted by the programs played a large part in her son Richard’s success at Eastern. He was awarded the district’s “Scholar of the Month” for May earlier in the meeting.
Because of that, she hoped the district could hopefully find more funding for music programs at the school, as it does with academics and athletics.
• The next meeting of Eastern BOE is scheduled for June 17 at 7:30 p.m.
