The St. Clair Catholic District School Board’s Information Technology (IT) department has completed a broadband modernization project, which provides equitable access for all students and staff.  The work, which began in 2017, is a partnership between the Ministry of Education and Ontario school boards.

“The primary goal of this project was to achieve 1 MBPS internet bandwidth per student and educator,” says Brenda Glassco, Chief Information Officer for the Board.  “This project was completed at all Board sites ahead of schedule in May 2021.”  

The Ministry contributed $342,446 to the project and the Board invested $94,431.

“I want to thank our IT staff for their great work on this important project,” says Deb Crawford, Director of Education.  “Access to technology is important for teaching and learning at any time; however, it has never been more critical than throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.  We are deeply grateful for the tremendous support from our IT department, especially throughout the past several months.”

During COVID-19, IT provided service and support for all staff, students and their families.  Nearly 3,300 devices were purchased and installed; more than 4,000 student Chromebooks were deployed to homes; and devices to create hot spots were provided to more than 100 families, who did not have access to the internet. 

Supports were also available for staff, including nearly 800 Chromebooks and 300 monitors.

There was also an extensive consultation with all principals, to assist with technology purchases for the 2021-2022 school year.

“In alignment with our strategic plan, and with what we have learned over the past year, we are striving to achieve a 1 to 1 device to student and classroom teacher ratio for September 2021,” says Amy Janssens, Associate Director – Corporate Services & Treasurer.  “To achieve this, it will be important that all devices in homes are returned to schools.”

Funding to achieve the 1 to 1 ratio was included in the 2021-2022 budget, which was approved by the Board of Trustees at the Tuesday, June 22, 2021 Board meeting.