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Author: Sam Quantz

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SmartBoard Replacement Information

After a thorough year-long review, including feedback from school administration, teachers, technical evaluation, and cost/benefit analysis, it has been determined that we will move forward with the following interactive devices in the classroom. 

ViewSonic Interactive Boards at the Elementary Level

Deciding Factors

  • Feedback received through visits and teacher survey.
  • We save almost $200-300 per board.
  • We will have a 7-year warranty instead of a 5-year warranty.
  • ViewSonic software will run the Smart Notebook software that many elementary teachers use.
  • ViewSonic boards performed better than the SMART brand.
  • Will support untethered teaching as well

Installation plan

·IT will work with school administration to determine which classrooms are updated first with as little classroom disruption as possible.

·Installation will take a coordination with district electricians and installers. 

·We are currently working on creating that plan with Auxiliary services and will send out that plan once it is finished. 

·Goal is to replace about 150 boards this year

·The rest of the boards are being replaced over the next 3-5 years.

·The goal is to begin installation in October/November.

Budget Needed

·Schools will not need to budget for this as it will be paid out of the district capital technology outlay funds.

Training

·School technicians are being trained within the next few weeks so there is onsite support.

·IT will work with school administration to develop training opportunities as boards are installed in the school

·IT will work with Teaching & Learning and School Leadership and Support to develop a comprehensive training plan going forward.

Epson Interactive Projectors (still in testing phase) at Secondary Level, with optional ViewSonic Interactive Board option

Deciding Factors

  • Feedback received through visits and teacher survey.
  • having more whiteboard space was one of the most frequent requests.
  • The vast majority of secondary classrooms do not use SMART notebook software or use the touch capability
  • The picture will be displayed on the whiteboard, allowing the whiteboard to serve dual functionality.
  • Allows for untethered teaching.
  • If the Epson Projector does not work in the classroom, ViewSonic Interactive boards will be installed 

Installation plan

·These devices have already been installed in some classrooms in the district

·IT has reached out to high school principals to receive the names of a few teachers willing receive these new projectors for additional testing.

·After final testing is completed, installation will take place over the next 3-5 years.

Budget Needed

·Schools will not need to budget for this as it will be paid out of the district capital technology outlay funds.

Training

·School technicians will be trained on the boards for onsite support.

·IT will work with school administration to develop training opportunities as boards are installed in the school

·IT will work with Teaching & Learning and School Leadership and Support to develop a comprehensive training plan going forward.

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As we kick off the new school year, we’d like to highlight a few important IT procedures.

After-Hours and Weekend IT Support

If you experience an IT issue outside regular hours, please submit an IT help ticket (https://helpdesk.slcschools.org).  When we receive a report of a network or system outage in the evening, it will be addressed the following morning.  If the request comes on the weekend, the problem will be worked on within 24-48 hours, though holiday support times may vary.

If you are having an activity after hours or on weekends relying on the computers or network and would like system support,  please schedule that with me at least two weeks in advance. Be prepared to provide an account number for potential technician overtime costs.

Monthly System Maintenance

To ensure the smooth operation of our IT systems, regular maintenance is necessary. We’ve established a maintenance schedule for the 2025-26 school year to minimize disruptions for staff and students.

Maintenance will occur on designated weekends each month, during which intermittent system outages may be expected. We will send out notifications each month detailing the affected systems.

The planned maintenance window is typically from 5 pm on Friday through Saturday.  Occasionally, maintenance may continue into Sunday.    Critical updates may be applied outside this planned maintenance schedule.

Please review the maintenance dates below and plan accordingly. 

  • August 29-30
  • September 26-27
  • October 24-25 (limited due to end of term)
  • November 14-15
  • December 19-20
  • January 23-24
  • February 27-28
  • March 27-28
  • April 17-18
  • May 15-16
  • June 26-27
  • July 17-18

IT Help Tickets

When requesting support, please remember to use the IT help ticket system (https://helpdesk.slcschools.org).   Tickets submitted through this system are prioritized over emails or phone calls. Utilizing the help ticket system allows us to better analyze data and improve our service.

We wish you a successful start of the school year.

Best regards,

Sam Quantz
Chief Information Officer
Salt Lake City School District
Office: 801.578.8329

www.slcschools.org

www.slcschools.org

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Safe Walking Route Maps

Hello School Administrators,

Your school website will soon have a new and improved Safe Walking Routes map.  To access your map, try this:

  1. Go to your school website and click on the "OUR SCHOOL" tab near the top of the page.
  2. Click on "Maps & Transportation."
  3. Click on "Safe Walking Route" under "Resources."

Please note the following:

  1. This map allows you to zoom in and zoom out - it is not a pdf.
  2. The tile in the bottom left corner of your map (just click on it) allows you to see it as a FOOTPRINT MAP or as a SATELLITE IMAGE MAP.
    1. The satellite image map is very effective when viewing with your community, SCC, or staff.  That's because you can see the actual crosswalks, street widths (these vary a lot around our city), and recently added structures in your community.
    2. Some of you will notice that the footprint map is a bit dated:  For example, it may show the location of your old building before rebuild (see Edison as an example).  I looked into getting the footprint maps updated but that is proving difficult.  The satellite map is much more recent.
  3. We did not include all the features that the Safe Routes UT site had because the icons won't scale down when using the zoom feature; the resulting mess of piled-up icons made the maps too confusing.  We went with a more simplified, easy-to-read-and-navigate approach.
  4. Please look over your new map and share any concerns, questions, or necessary changes with me.
  5. Please share this map with your parents/community.
  6. Please do NOT refer parents to the Safe Routes UT website (that site still doesn't have maps that outline our school boundaries).
  7. You can use this map for all sorts of reasons like navigating through your yearly safe walking routes updates or for mapping school walking field trips/fun runs.

Thank you,

Sam Quantz

Chief Information Officer, Information Technology

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Access to Server/Networking Rooms

Prior to spring break, we had some individuals who were not district employees try to access a server/networking room at Washington Elementary.  We have had this occur in the past at Rose Park Elementary as well. 

The only persons who are authorized to access a server/networking room in the district office or school building are the individuals listed on these websites:

https://www.slcschools.org/departments/information-technology

https://www.slcschools.org/departments/technical-services

If the individual requesting access is not pictured on these websites, they must be accompanied by an individual whose picture is on these websites.  Otherwise, no one should be permitted access to the server/networking rooms.  If someone not listed on these websites tries to access one of these rooms, please contact Sam Quantz.

Thank you,

Sam Quantz 

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StudentSquare

We will be launching StudentSquare for students in grades 9-12 in the next couple of weeks.  Students will receive an invitation email from parent square that looks like this.

This is the next step in our ParentSquare rollout.  Teachers and staff will be able to send monitored/logged direct messages to students.

Thank you,

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Online Registration - Pin Removal

There will be an update to Online Registration for the summer 2025 registration to increase security.  We will no longer be supporting registration pins.  Parents will have three options to register their students. 

1. They will be able to login with their parent portal account,  

2. They will be able to request a one-time code that will only be sent if they enter the email address that is listed on their contact screen in PowerSchool, and 

3.  They can register as a new student.

Student Square

We will be launching student square for students in grades 9-12 in the next couple of weeks.  Students will receive an invitation email from parent square that looks like this.

This is the next step in our ParentSquare rollout.  Teachers and staff will be able to send monitored/logged direct messages to students.

Student Surveys for 2025-26 school year 

t's that time of year to begin gathering the surveys that will be administered for the upcoming school year.  As a reminder, parents need to opt-in for their students to participate in the following types of surveys:

  1. Surveys protected under the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA)
  2. Surveys associated with an early warning program, as defined in Section 53F-4-207
  3. Surveys containing social emotional learning questions
  4. Third Party Surveys.
  5. School climate survey, as defined in Section 53G-8-802

In order for us to be able to ensure that parents have the opportunity to opt-in during registration, IT will need a list of approved surveys by May 30, 2025.

Ethnics Training and Assessment Scheduling

All staff assisting with testing need to complete testing ethics training and that when they schedule for RISE and End of Levels.  Please remember to build in ample time for make-up testing and unexpected test interruptions beyond our control.

Kindergarten Intent to Register (Elementary Schools Only)

Afterschool registration will begin on April 24.  In order for 25-26 Kindergarten students to be able to apply for the afterschool program, they must be pre-registered in PowerSchool.  To help you obtain the necessary information, please run the Intent to Register portion of Online Registration.  Some schools have already done this and do not need to do it again.  To run Intent to Register, you simply need to advertise your community.  When they go to online registration (https://registration.slcschools.org), they just need to select the 25-26 school year, and they will be walked through the process.  Kindergarten students should select the 'Register as a new student' option.  Schools may want to consider sharing or temporarily removing the new student pin. 

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We are increasing our security safeguards to prevent unauthorized access to PowerSchool SIS.  Starting March 28, PowerSchool SIS will only be available from district networks and district devices.  This change will only affect the administrative side of PowerSchool and will not affect Parent/Student portal or PowerTeacher.  If you need to access PowerSchool SIS from home or a remote location, you will need to use an approved district device. 

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Through a grant, we have obtained access to a classroom device management system that teachers will be able to use to monitor student screens and manage student devices.  The Information Technology office is in the processing of configuring and testing this new product now.  The software will be pushed out in the coming weeks to all student devices.  IT will also be preparing training videos on how to use the software.  Schools that are using LanSchool or some other product may continue using those products through the rest of this year.  After this year, however, they will no longer be approved or support as Lightspeed will be our only supported classroom device management system.

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All middle and high school’s PowerScheduler for 2025-2026 schoolyear is now set up.  You can start your set up now if you haven’t already done so. Below is a checklist of set up tasks to prepare for the Build. We reserve space in the large training room at 995 West Beardsley, Salt Lake City, UT 84119 for these workshops to offer an opportunity to have a place to work uninterrupted.  The schedule for PowerScheduler Workshop is as follows:

BUILD:  Monday, 03/03/2025 through Friday,03/07/2025   7:30 am – 4:00 pm with Aaron Rudy available on Thursday and Friday

LOAD:  Monday, 04/28/2025 through Friday, 05/02/2025  7:30 am – 4:00 pm with Aaron Rudy available on Monday.

Build Tasks:

  • Course Catalog – Remove discontinued courses, add new courses,   (PowerScheuler > Course Catalogs)
  • Rooms – Review Rooms in use for your school
  • Student Scheduling Preferences – Student Next Year Grade, Priority, Schedule this Student, Next School Indicator. (Note:  Most students should be set however, students enrolled after the beginning of year may need to be set up)
  • Teacher Scheduling Preferences – Confirm that Schedule this Teacher is checked if Teacher is returning.
  • Student Course Request Screens –  Student Course Request Screens should be updated if course options have changed.
  • Review Courses – In PowerScheduler, review individual courses for correct set up.

Any questions or more detailed instruction for these tasks, please contact Christy Martini (christy.martini@slcschools.org).

______

Thank you,

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