A Day in the Life of ... Information Technology Services Supporting the technology, communication and infrastructure systems of the district, Information Technology Services is one OCPS division that probably touches most district employees and students. Five area ITS teams provide second tier support for schools and remote sites, as well as being liaisons between ITS and site administration. When not found at their East Learning Community office, you can try to catch up with the East Area ITS team composed of Senior Technology Support Representatives Brandie Ross, Vincent Boothe and Robert Stefanov, and Administrator Eric Close out in the field as they support 40 schools, two maintenance sites, three ancillary sites and the East Learning Community office. "I love to help people, and being in technology and education …, I go home at the end of the day feeling like I have helped [someone]," said Ross, who graduated from the University of Phoenix and previously supported educational entities in Leon and Wakulla counties. Ross joined OCPS in 2016, first working as a school tech support at Hunter’s Creek and West Creek elementary schools before moving to Freedom Middle, where she was named Support Person of the Year in 2019.
14 | Orange Peal
The mother of three transitioned to an area ITS team, working first with the Southwest Area in 2020 before joining the East Area later that year. "On a district level, I get to help more students and staff at multiple schools instead of just one," said Ross, who built her first computer at age 19. "Technology is a constant learning curve. Every day you learn something new; every day presents a new challenge." The Orange Peal team recently spent the day with Ross. 7:56 a.m.: Ross checks emails that come into the Easy Vista system from the East Learning Community schools. Logs on to the Archibus system that tracks device locations and verifies inventory status. 8:23 a.m.: Prints barcodes for new or existing digital devices. 8:33 a.m.: Receives an email from a school tech support rep about receiving computers that are not connecting to the network. 8:50 a.m.: Receives an email about the OCPS site being blocked.
