a cooperative partnership of the Instructional Technology Division and the Management Information Systems Divsion

The Monroe City Schools Technology Initiative was instituted in the fall of 1993 by the newly appointed Superintendent, Dr. George Cannon. At that time, the district had no MIS department, no Instructional Technology department, no technology plan, and only limited technology in instructional areas. Dr. Cannon took immediate steps to alleviate this problem by hiring Holly Casey as the Instructional Technology Coordinator and Mark Stevenson as the MIS Administrator to fulfill his vision of a district committed to preparing its students for the twenty-first century.

Considering this humble beginning, MCS can surely boast its accomplishments. A partnership was formed between the Instructional Technology and MIS divisions. The combined efforts of these two divisions became known as the MCS Technology Initiative. A technology plan was developed which combined both administrative and academic needs, including a shared network, mutual standards development, shared support responsibility, and integration of all technology components and budget sources. The network was designed to allow any computer in any school to have access to resources at the school through a local area network, access to resources at other schools and the district through a wide area network, and access to the world through Internet. Due to the passage of a bond referendum, all classrooms are being wired for computer networking, cable television, and telephones.

The successful partnership of Instructional Technology and MIS has facilitated the speedy progress of the district. All schools have been directly linked to Internet and to a central Student Information System (SIS) to process information for student records and related services. Class scheduling, grades, absences, discipline, and other records are all completed through the on-line system. All state SIS required reporting is extracted from the system in addition to required School Food Services, Special Education, and Title student information. The district can also process and report the California Achievement Test internally utilizing SIS services.

Thirty station instructional computer labs have been installed in each of the elementary and junior high schools. The labs have network connectivity within the district and to the Internet over high speed Bell SyncroNet Flexserve service lines. Internet central services have been recently upgraded with direct Bell T1 Megalink service, representing a 24-fold improvement in service speed to schools.

A committee of secondary teachers has been formed to determine the configurations, equipment, and software desired by the high schools. The committee has met on numerous occasions and is preparing its report. It is anticipated that the high schools will be equipped and on-line by the end of the 1996-97 school year.

Due to the MCS Technology Initiative, the district was selected to participate in the LaNIE grant project, and ultimately, the Challenge grant project. Both projects have provided the district with the means to conduct additional technology training and to purchase hardware for teachers and community partners. They have contributed greatly to the MCS Technology Initiative and have helped to bring the district one step closer to the realization of the Dr. Cannon's vision.