COVINGTON, Ky. — The Kentucky Department of Education honored the Covington Independent Schools technology team with the 2022 Stilwell Award this week for the work the team did keeping students and staff connected during the pandemic.

What You Need To Know

  • Before the pandemic, not all Covington Independent Schools were one-to-one in terms of student technology

  • The tech department worked long hours to ensure all students had devices

  • The team was recognized by the Kentucky Department of Education

  • They also helped students get connected to the internet

Typically, people don’t hear about a school district’s technology department unless something’s gone wrong, said Jamarcus White, Director of Technology for Covington Independent Schools. That’s why it’s nice to get some recognition, he said.

“They took an opportunity to acknowledge us publicly, and that was something I felt was very important, because it was a stressful time, a little bit, during the pandemic. It was new. We had never been through anything like that before,” White said.

Before the pandemic, only Holmes High School and Holmes Middle school were one-to-one schools, meaning all students had devices they could use at home.

“The elementary schools, they were kind of behind a little bit,” White said. “I look at the pandemic as kind of like a gift and a curse, because prior to the pandemic we were making some progress toward getting those elementary schools one to one, but with the funding we were able to get because of covid, we were able to get everybody a device.”

The technology team traveled to student’s houses to assess their needs, and helped get internet access to those who didn’t have it. They deployed 1,300 devices and provided training for them.

“We were able to put in some long hours, work after hours, just do what we needed to do, basically, to make sure everyone was supported,” White said.

It was a team of just five people supporting a district with over 3,000 students and more than 800 staff members.

“We’re managing close to 5,000 devices on an everyday basis,” White said. “We wanted to make sure all of our kids knew that regardless of where they’re at, they can still continue their education at home if they needed to.”

As students and families have become more adept at online learning, it will continue to play a big role for schools, White said. That turn will require more tech support, which he said his team will be ready to provide.

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