So to ensure sustainability, district and school leaders must develop and maintain their technology budgets by implementing thorough multi-year planning processes and conducting those processes consistently. Such planning will help prevent leaders from getting caught in overwhelming “surprise” situations where they can’t keep up with the yearly infrastructure and device replacement needs of their organizations.
And leaders also must be mindful of technology purchases made with one-time money. Federal and state funding supplements, grants or other one-time windfalls can often lead to heady new opportunities for districts and schools. But in two or three years, the one-time funded technology tools need to be replaced. Then what?
Setting aside general fund dollars to replace these resources purchased with one-time funding is difficult but important because "hope for the best" is not a sustainable budgeting strategy. District and school storage areas are often packed with non-functional technology equipment purchased with one-time money. When the equipment died, the projects that the equipment supported also folded because the district didn't allocate any replacement funds. And it's likely that the staff positions supported with these one-time funds were a challenge to maintain.
In districts, schools and classrooms, equality and equity should not be confused, and this is especially true as they relate to technology purchases. By definition, equality is treating everyone the same, and equity is giving everyone what’s needed to be successful. Most of us have been in schools where every classroom is outfitted with some expensive tech device (interactive whiteboards anyone?), but only a fraction of these devices are being used well. This is wasteful and unsustainable spending.
In the interest of equality, the leaders in these schools likely believed they needed to equip every classroom with the same stuff and provide the same opportunities for all teachers and students. However, even with excellent training opportunities, some teachers won’t appreciate or adequately use these expensive tech devices with their students. So there are other issues at play here that school administrators need to address. And organization leaders who are tempted to make such equality-based technology purchases for all schools and classrooms should consider their options and instead opt for equity. In doing so, they can provide schools and classrooms with equipment they want, need and will use to their greatest advantage.
In summary, there are a handful of best practices employed by successful organizations that can help with ongoing technology sustainability. Here are some to keep in mind:
- Build thoughtful multi-year budgets. Know the life cycle of your tech equipment (student and teacher devices, networking equipment, bandwidth, etc.) and when it will come up for replacement. Don’t think of tech as “durable goods.” Unlike cars or refrigerators, technology equipment usually has a fairly short life span.
- Leverage E-rate funding. E-rate has been a great supplemental technology resource for districts and schools, and savvy leaders have regularly put it to good use.
- Pursue Bond and Mill levy funding. Many districts have successfully received voter-approved bond and mill levy funding to support their districts’ technology programs.
- Be wise with one-time funds. Savvy leaders don’t depend on windfalls and one-time money such as grants to support their yearly budgets. And sometimes these windfall funds, especially when used to outfit otherwise unsustainable programs, can create ongoing thorny issues.
- Balance funding for stuff and people. Having a reliable stream of funding to buy new technology equipment is great, but not having the people to support the stuff is shortsighted and frustrating. It’s important to ensure that adequate support personnel and training staff are also factored into tech budgets.
- Look ahead. It’s imperative that leaders know where technology is headed and use this knowledge to plan accordingly. Some districts that invested heavily in soon-to-be outdated technologies spend years playing catch-up.
- Avoid the new bright shiny objects. Be judicious and avoid the tempting new tech tools that have no proven value. And don’t get suckered by the techies on your staff who push for expensive cutting-edge purchases. Let some other organization be the beta testers.
- Balance Equal and Equitable. Leverage your funds wisely. Ensure everyone has the basics of what they need to be successful, but deploy further investments in the people and places where the technology will be best used.
