Strategic Technology Planning and Investment: Aligning Priorities, Costs, and Outcomes

About the Presenters

Krestin Bahr currently serves as Superintendent of Peninsula School District 401 in Washington State. She brings over 39 years of experience to her role in education. Her career began as a classroom teacher and she progressed through positions such as Principal, Director of Middle Schools, and Mt. Tahoma Regional Director within the Tacoma School District. She earned her master’s degree from City University and her superintendent’s certification from Washington State University. Krestin served as Superintendent of the Eatonville School District from 2013 to 2021 and has been the Superintendent of the Peninsula School District since 2021. She has been nominated twice for the AASA Superintendent of the Year and is currently serving as an AASA Executive Member until 2027. Krestin and her husband, Bryon, have been married for 40 years and have three grown children and four grandchildren.

Over a 29-year career, Dr. Doug Brubaker has served as a teacher, principal, CTO, and superintendent in school systems ranging in size from 7,000 to 60,000 students. He is completing his eighth year as a superintendent and his fourth as Superintendent of the Texarkana Independent School District in Texas. Highlights of his tenure in Texarkana ISD include development of a new five-year strategic plan, implementation of a districtwide 1:1 initiative, and voter approval of an unprecedented $189 million bond program. Dr. Brubaker has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Kansas, an M.Ed. from Texas Christian University, a Ph.D. from the University of North Texas, and CoSN CETL certification. He serves on the CoSN/AASA EmpowerED Superintendents Advisory Panel. He and his wife, Heather, have a daughter who attends school in the district.

Dr. Bryan Duffie currently serves as the Superintendent of the Alma School District in Arkansas. Dr. Duffie has 32 years of experience working in public education. His school leadership positions have included being a Principal of Westside Middle School and Westside High School in Jonesboro, Arkansas. He has also served as Superintendent for the Westside Consolidated School District in Jonesboro, Arkansas. Additionally, he served as both an Assistant Superintendent and a Superintendent in the Jacksonville North Pulaski School District in Jacksonville, Arkansas. Dr. Duffie earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the University of Central Arkansas and his Ed.D. degree from Vanderbilt University.

About the Moderator

Ann McMullan is Project Director for the CoSN EmpowerED Superintendents Initiative, created in partnership with AASA, The School Superintendents Association. 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 leads her own consulting firm, Ann McMullan, Education Leadership Consultant. She is a public speaker, writer, and consultant focused on leadership to meet the needs of today’s students. Ann serves on the edWeb.net Advisory Board and is a founding member of ERDI’s Ed Leadership Council. Ann is co-author of Life Lessons in Leadership.