Innovative Technology Solutions to Address Digital Equity: Award-Winning Collaborative Leadership Strategies

Presented by Scott Bailey, Superintendent, Desert Sands Unified School District (CA); Kelly May-Vollmar, Ed.D., Assistant Superintendent, Educational Services, Desert Sands Unified School District (CA); Dr. Veronica Garcia, Superintendent, Santa Fe Public Schools (NM); and Dr. Tom Ryan, Retired Chief Information and Strategy Officer, Santa Fe Public Schools (NM)
Moderated by Ann McMullan, Project Director, EmpowerED Superintendent Initiative, CoSN (Consortium for School Networking)

Sponsored by ClassLink
This edWebinar series is co-hosted by CoSN, AASA, and edWeb.net

Watch the Recording Listen to the Podcast

Closed captioning will be added to the recording within 2 weeks of the live presentation.
Get a CE Certificate for this edWebinar Learn more.

The COVID-19 pandemic dramatically launched the need for schools to swiftly move to online learning for all students. This in turn revealed the urgency of solving the challenges of digital equity. To meet those challenges, it is imperative that school districts work with multiple groups within their communities to succeed in assuring effective digital access for all.

CoSN annually awards a school district with the association’s Community Leadership Award for Digital Equity to encourage and recognize those districts that are working to eliminate inequities and narrow the digital access gap. The Superintendent and Chief Technology Officer from each of the school districts that were awarded CoSN’s Community Leadership Award for Digital Equity in 2021 (Desert Sands USD, CA) and 2020 (Santa Fe Public Schools, NM) are the featured guests in this edWebinar broadcast. They share the strategies they use to build community awareness of their critical needs and the actions they take to narrow the homework gap and other issues related to digital equity. Tools and resources from CoSN’s Digital Equity Initiative will be presented. Additionally, the latest information from CoSN’s Student Home Internet Connectivity Study is reviewed. Information gleaned from the study’s data analyses includes guidelines on bandwidth, devices and multiple other remote learning needs. Detailed insight on students’ learning experiences at home is included.

This recorded edWebinar will be of particular value to school superintendents, K-12 school and district leaders, and aspiring leaders.

About the Presenters

Scott Bailey is the superintendent of schools for the Desert Sands Unified School District, which serves 29,000 students in the Coachella Valley of Southern California. Prior to his superintendency, Scott served in various teaching and administrative roles in districts ranging in size from 9,000 to 314,000 students. Throughout his 30-year career as an educator, Scott has earned the distinction of Las Vegas Asian Chamber of Commerce Educator of the Year, and received numerous senatorial, gubernatorial, and congressional recognitions. In 2010, he was appointed to the Baldrige Board of Examiners by the U.S. Department of Commerce. He is passionate about continuous improvement, enjoys engaging in global professional learning networks, and serves on numerous local and national boards. He was recently recognized as a 2019 Superintendent to Watch by the National School Public Relations Association (NSPRA). He says, “We need to teach students the way they want to learn, not necessarily how we were taught.” You can follow him on Twitter @scaughtsb.

Dr. Kelly May-Vollmar has worked in education since 2004. She served as a classroom teacher, academic coach, site principal, and chief innovation and information officer (CIIO) prior to starting her current position as Assistant Superintendent of Educational Services. She served as CIIO for Desert Sands Unified School District for three years. For the last two years, she has served as the assistant superintendent over educational and technology services. Her experience has allowed her to marry the technology and the educational services departments. As a technology leader in California, she has had the honor of receiving several awards. She was awarded the Association of California School Administrators (ACSA) California Technology Administrator of the Year award in 2019 and the California IT in Education (CITE, formerly CETPA) Educational Leader of the Year award in 2020. Most recently, Dr. May-Vollmar and her superintendent were awarded the CoSN Community Leadership for Digital Equity Award.

Dr. Veronica C. Garcia’s calling to achieve educational transformation began as a teacher of students with individual differences, disabilities, and special needs. Her 48-year career includes serving as New Mexico’s first cabinet secretary for education under then-Governor Bill Richardson, Superintendent of the Santa Fe Public Schools (SFPS), a position she held twice in 1999 and 2016, Executive Director of New Mexico Voices for Children and Executive Director of the New Mexico Coalition of School Administrators. Through it all, she has been a leading voice on ensuring students’ rights to a sufficient education. Notably, in 2017 she was the first to testify in the landmark Yazzie/Martinez lawsuit that resulted in the court ordering the state to take immediate action to resolve deep inequities and barriers to education faced by at-risk students. Dr. Garcia retires as SFPS Superintendent in June 2021. She plans to continue impacting students’ lives through advocacy and consultancy.

Dr. Tom Ryan has recently retired from Santa Fe Public Schools in New Mexico as Chief Information and Strategy Officer. He co-founded K12 Strategic Technology Advisory Group to assist district leaders to deliver educational success with technology, which is led by experienced school technology leaders. He has expertise in strategic planning and leadership, designing digital learning environments, and technology infrastructure reviews.

Dr. Ryan has a Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction. He has served as CIO in large and very large public school districts and has 40+ years of experience and expertise in teaching, leadership, technology integration and blended/online learning program development.

He is past Chair of CoSN and works with the Council of the Great City Schools (CGCS) performing large school district reviews and helps coordinate annual CIO conferences. Dr. Ryan is a senior fellow for the Center for Digital Education and presents at several international and national conferences throughout the year.

About the Host

Ann McMullan is Project Director for CoSN’s EmpowerED Superintendents Initiative. Ann served as Executive Director for Educational Technology in Klein ISD, near Houston, Texas until September 2013, when she and her family moved to Los Angeles, California. For 16 years Ann led the district team that provided professional development on technology and 21st century instructional strategies to 4,000 educators serving 50,000 students. She was co-chair of the Texas Education Technology Advisory Committee which developed the Texas Long Range Plan for Technology.

Today, Ann works as a public speaker, writer, and education consultant focused on leadership to meet the needs of today’s students. Ann serves on the edWeb.net Advisory Board, ClassLink’s Senior Advisors Group, and is a founding member of ERDI’s Alliance for Education Impact Advisory Council. She also volunteers as a leadership consultant with Executive Service Corps of Southern California, serving non-profit associations. Ann is the co-author of Life Lessons in Leadership, available on Amazon.com.

Closed captioning will be added to the recording within 2 weeks of the live presentation.

Join the Super-Connected community to network with educators, participate in online discussions, receive invitations to upcoming edWebinars, and view recordings of previous programs to earn CE certificates.

AASA is the premier association for school system leaders and serves as the national voice for public education and district leadership on Capitol Hill.

CoSN (the Consortium for School Networking) is the premier professional association for school system technology leaders. CoSN provides thought leadership resources, community, best practices and advocacy tools to help leaders succeed in the digital transformation. CoSN represents over 13 million students in school districts nationwide and continues to grow as a powerful and influential voice in K-12 education.

ClassLink empowers your students and teachers with instant access to their learning resources. ClassLink® OneClick® includes a library of over 5,000 single sign-on apps and instant links to file folders at school and on Google, Office 365, and Dropbox cloud drives. ClassLink Roster Server easily and securely delivers class rosters to any publisher using open technology standards. ClassLink Analytics gives decision makers the usage data they need. Accessible from any computer, tablet or smartphone, ClassLink is ideal for 1to1 and Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) initiatives.