GILROY
– Gilroy Unified School District is revamping its technology
department with help from a parent who has volunteered several
hours of work each week for more than a year.
By Lori Stuenkel
GILROY – Gilroy Unified School District is revamping its technology department with help from a parent who has volunteered several hours of work each week for more than a year.
GUSD is focusing on technology, including the use of e-mail and educational software, by creating a new Information Technology (IT) manager position.
Rob van Herk, who since May 2002 has been a volunteer with Gilroy Unified, was chosen from a pool of 57 applicants to fill the position on Aug. 1.
“We needed a person with quite a background in technology so that’s what we’re focusing to,” said Kim Filice, director of human relations for the district. “We need to make sure we’re supporting the schools.”
Van Herk will oversee a small staff that develops and maintains technology-related projects, such as installing servers and networks, ensuring new software is appropriate and meets the requirements of the equipment and training district staff on how to use existing equipment.
To help new teachers get ready for the upcoming year, van Herk will distribute e-mail user guides to help staff use the district’s e-mail as well as access it from outside computers. Convincing teachers and students throughout Gilroy Unified to use technology as a vital learning tool is one of van Herk’s goals, and ensuring that teachers are familiar with the e-mail program is a step.
“It’s not just about being comfortable with technology, although that’s a huge first step,” van Herk said. “A lot of (district employees) are comfortable, a lot of them need more time.”
An increased use of technology, especially e-mail, complements a district goal to communicate more regularly and efficiently with parents and the community. However, e-mail usage, specifically the lack of it, was part of a weeks-long debate last spring for GUSD.
The problem of too few computers in GUSD classrooms is the biggest hurdle keeping teachers from e-mail, said Michelle Nelson, president of the Gilroy Teachers Association.
“We just need to ensure that all teachers have access to e-mail in their rooms and that the equipment is there,” she said. “But it’s just one way of communicating.”
One of van Herk’s visions for the upcoming year is to see parents from each of the schools get involved in utilizing technology such as e-mail and new educational software. Involving everyone in the development of higher-technology classrooms will make the change easier, van Herk said.
“I know that we can make the district … a great technology district in one year or two years,” he said. “I want to find ways to invite a few parents to help out.”
Van Herk estimates he can begin working on new projects in mid-September, but for now, “it comes down to getting ready for the new school year.”
He and his two-man team, consisting of Computer Specialist Jim Fletcher and Computer Engineer Leo Oliver, are already busy getting Gilroy schools technology-ready for the 2003-04 school year.
Modernization at South Valley Middle School and El Roble Elementary includes setting up new network equipment, Internet connections and making sure the servers are working correctly. The district’s voice-mail system is also being updated before teachers return to campus next week, due to the addition of Ascencion Solorsano Middle School.
“It’s a nice – and also a scary – challenge,” van Herk said. “It’s a very large district. We have 2,500 PCs supported by three employees.”
As acting IT manager, van Herk oversees the technology department for the entire school district, replacing the former IT coordinator position. The new position focuses more on the district’s needs in regards to technology, Filice said.
Considered a “classified” position, teacher’s credentials were not required to apply. Gilroy Unified posted the job opening on its own Web site; on the ED-JOIN Web site, a public education job site; and in an advertisement in The Dispatch.
After applicants were screened, a panel of Gilroy Unified employees interviewed several of the qualified candidates, Filice said. The top candidates were then interviewed by Superintendent Edwin Diaz.
“The district changed the focus of the job,” said van Herk. “I happened to fit that focus.”
Van Herk, who for the past three years was the IT director for LuxN, an optical networking company based in Sunnyvale, has two children in Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) at Rucker Elementary and Brownell Academy. He began volunteering between eight and 16 hours a week as the Web master for the Gilroy Unified Web site. He also worked with teachers to develop some of the school’s Web sites, including Rucker. In March, the district went to van Herk for help on various projects, hiring him to work one full day a week.
Hearing about the possible IT manager position during a school board meeting, it was no surprise to van Herk when the job was posted in June.
“I posted it on the Web myself,” he said. “I knew the job was coming up and was thinking about it for months.”
