Grosse Pointe Public Schools Budget Not Prepared for Essential Technology Changes

GROSSE POINTE, MI - April 8, 2014 will be a big day in Grosse Pointe Public Schools, based on the current budget.  That is the day the information contained on the District’s computer systems (confidential student information) becomes vulnerable to hackers.  Why?  April 8, 2014 is the day Microsoft ends all support for Windows XP. 

How did the District get here?  Windows products have a typical lifecycle of 10 years, however due to the popularity of XP, Microsoft extended its lifetime.  Ideally changing operating systems should have been looked at intensely in 2009 when mainstream support for XP was discontinued.  For the past 4 years, the District should have been exploring new options and doing their due diligence to determine the best operating system that will fit the needs of the students and community.  
According to Microsoft’s website “If your organization has not started the migration to a modern desktop, you are late.  Based on historical customer deployment data, the average enterprise deployment can take 18-32 months from business case through full development.”  Usually companies aren’t so blunt as to tell the customer they are “late.”  

Again from Microsoft’s website, the implications of the discontinuation of support:“Running Windows XP SP3 and Office 2003 in your environment after their end of support date may expose your company to potential risks, such as:

• Security & Compliance Risks: Unsupported and unpatched environments are vulnerable to security risks. This may result in an officially recognized control failure by an internal or external audit body, leading to suspension of certifications, and/or public notification of the organization’s inability to maintain its systems and customer information.
• Lack of Independent Software Vendor (ISV) & Hardware Manufacturers support: A recent industry report from Gartner Research suggests "many independent software vendors (ISVs) are unlikely to support new versions of applications on Windows XP in 2011; in 2012, it will become common." And it may stifle access to hardware innovation: Gartner Research further notes that in 2012, most PC hardware manufacturers will stop supporting Windows XP on the majority of their new PC models. “
  

The District, and thereby the community is at an extreme disadvantage with the current timetable.  Notice that my opening remark contained “based on the current budget.”  Upon reviewing the budget, it does not appear that there is a dramatic increase in funding for technology upgrades.  This is likely due to the bond proposal the district will be bringing before voters in November, but simply putting the proposal on the ballot does not ensure passage.  The answer is simple, upgrade to Windows 7, right?  Wrong.  Windows 7 loses all support in 2020, and the bond proposal to the community extends until 2024, but doesn’t cover an operating system changeover.  The next logical answer is Windows 8, right?  Wrong again.  Windows 8 would certainly require massive upgrades in hardware (not in the budget) and extensive teacher training.  Teacher training will certainly have to be done outside of instruction time, and that will require either extra pay, or a mandate from the GPEA that the teachers must attend.  Those aren’t fact, simply my guesses as to how we can convince teachers to take personal time to learn a new software package because the district wasn’t ready.  

If Windows 7 and Windows 8 aren’t clear answers, what are the other options?  Apple’s OS X is another option, but would require extensive teacher training, costly data migration, and 100% of district hardware would need to be replaced.  
But Will, how do you know the District isn’t prepared to do this?  Number 1, I was at the meeting for the technology steering committee, and they did not discuss this changeover once.  Following the meeting I was told by a Board member that they were surprised this hadn’t come up before.  Number 2, I’ve been following the Board’s decisions and debates for a long time, they had lengthy discussions over approving a phone contract, I think a public conversation about switching operating systems would have occurred.  If they didn’t have such a discussion, we should ask ourselves why they didn’t.  

The District needs to work this into the budget before it gets approved, the vote is on Monday June 24th.  GPPSS and K-12 Districts across the country are in the same position, but that doesn’t mean the situation is any less dire.  This requires a big shift in the District’s infrastructure, and the current conversations surrounding the District, such as those involving the role of Board members in student groups, need to be tabled until the technology issue is solved.

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