A Day in the Life of

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. 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.

Name: Brandie Ross Role: Senior Technology Support Representative, East Area ITS Years with OCPS: 5 Hometown: Tallahassee, Fla.

101407

9:06 a.m.: Emails a school tech support rep about inventory tags ready for devices.

9:08 a.m.: Departs the East Learning Community office for Riverdale Elementary.

9:27 a.m.: Arrives at Riverdale Elementary, 4 miles away.

9:46-10:42 a.m.: Discusses a range of issues with Riverdale Elementary Tech Support Rep Howard Adlam in his office in the school’s Media Center. This includes missing iPad chargers; status on tickets for phone name changes and voicemail requests; Archibus tags; and recommendations on how to image teacher laptops. Also reviews the pick-up log with the UDT vendor who comes to retrieve devices that need to be repaired.

9:58 a.m.: Riverdale Media Specialist Virginia Greifenstein asks Ross about a device with a cracked screen that was just returned from the previous school year.

10:48 a.m.: Helps Assistant Principal Sheryl Miller Bechor with a Google Chrome issue.

10:58 a.m.: Assists Principal William Charlton in his office. Asks him to submit a Help ticket to get a sound bar for his computer.

11:04 a.m.: Departs Riverdale Elementary for lunch.

12:38 p.m.: Arrives at Baldwin Park Elementary to meet with Tech Support Rep Phuong La in the Media Center. Affixes new iPad stands on the backs of devices that had them broken or missing.

1:11 p.m.: Departs Baldwin Park Elementary. Calls back to the office, where Close asks her to go to Deerwood Elementary to troubleshoot tech issues there as its tech support rep is out on leave for a few weeks.

1:47 p.m.: Arrives at Deerwood Elementary, 9 miles away. Finds Principal Melanie May and Instructional Coach Mary Pagan in the school’s Media Center.

1:55-2:40 p.m.: After an assessment of immediate needs, Ross works with Pagan, who is filling in for the school’s media specialist. She resolves six issues and checks out a set of laptops for a class. Ross will need to come back to continue working on issues.

2:45 p.m.: Departs Deerwood Elementary for the East Learning Community office, 5 miles away.

2:58 p.m.: Back at her desk, Ross checks tech tickets that have come into the Easy Vista system while she was out in the field.

3:21 p.m.: Close comes to talk to Ross about devices at Avalon Elementary not having access to the OCPS Intranet. To minimize impact on classroom instruction, Close asks her if she can visit Castle Creek Elementary first thing in the morning the next day to address the computer issues there.

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