Critical Cybersecurity Conversations K-12 Leaders Should Be Having

Presented by Jonathan Ryglicki, Cyber Security Manager, Metro Nashville Public Schools (TN); Mark Racine, Chief Information Officer, Boston Public Schools (MA); and Rob Eidson, Security Product Manager, ENA
Moderated by Dr. Tom Ryan, Co-Founder, K-12 Strategic Technology Advisory Group (K12STAG)

Sponsored by ENA

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Providing safe and secure resources for students, teachers, parents, and staff has always been a foundational tenant for effective learning environments. Today, more than ever in K-12, providing that environment requires having robust cybersecurity infrastructures, policies, and practices in place. Recent reports indicate that one-third of our schools have had a cyber intrusion in the last two years. The question for today’s schools isn’t if, but when! Please join K-12 district leaders for a discussion regarding the cybersecurity challenges they face.

These leaders will address the following questions:

• What changes have they made to provide better security?
• How have they motivated and encouraged staff and students to take cybersecurity more seriously?
• What cybersecurity threats have they faced and what steps are being taken to stay current on cyber defense?
• What resources have they leveraged to fight back?

This edLeader Panel will be of interest to K-12 district leaders, chief technology officers, and directors of technology.

About the Presenters

Jonathan Ryglicki has been the cyber security manager for the Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) since 2019. He is a Certified Information Systems Security Professional with over 15 years in the information security and risk management industry with a focus on regulatory compliance, third-party risk management, and security awareness. Education has always been a passion of his, prior to information security, as he worked with a non-profit to promote effective technology in the classrooms.

Mark Racine is the chief information officer for the Boston Public Schools. Mark joined the Boston Public Schools in 2007 as a classroom teacher before joining the central administration in 2012 where he has served as the CIO for the last nine years. Mark serves on the governance board for the Ed-Fi Alliance, the National Advisory Council for Cybersecurity, and the peer review team for the Council of Great City Schools.

Rob Eidson is responsible for the security portfolio to include unified threat management, hosted firewall, managed VPN, DDoS mitigation, and SD-WAN. He holds the responsibility to strategize the full lifecycle of ENA security products—from conception through release—to better serve the ENA growing base of primarily education, healthcare, and government clients nationwide.

Rob is a versatile management professional with a history of quality performance in challenging environments. He enjoys working across functional areas and at all levels of an organization. He dedicated the first part of his career to military service, with a focus on security, operational efficiencies, risk management, and safety of life. More recently, he shifted his career to the technology industry where he is using the same skill set to help build technology for good.

About the Moderator

Tom Ryan, Ph.D. is co-founder of K-12 Strategic Technology Advisory Group (K12STAG), which is led by public school chief information officers who understand the challenges school leaders face. He is an education professional with 40+ years of K-12. He has a Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction and over 16 years as a Chief Information Officer in large districts. He is engaged in leadership activities in several state and national organizations including Chairmen of the Board for the Consortium of School Networking (CoSN). He is also active in the Council of the Great City Schools (CGCS) including large school district IT reviews of infrastructure, strategic planning, instructional technology, and digital transformation efforts. He also helps coordinate the CGCS annual CIO conferences. Dr. Ryan is a Senior Fellow for the Center of Digital Education and presents at several International, national, and state conferences throughout the year.

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