Prior to the glitches that left New York City public school students locked out of their virtual classrooms Tuesday, the nation’s largest school district had been operating without a permanent Chief Information Officer (CIO) for months.
The I-Team has learned the search for a new CIO recently concluded,but the new technology chief was not yet in place to help respond to frustrated parents and students who found themselves temporarily locked out of remote learning during this week’s snowstorm.
Nathaniel Styer, the DOE press secretary, said the name of a permanent CIO would be announced soon.
He added that the school district had been relying on an interim CIO, Scott Strickland, after the prior tech chief departed in the summer of 2023
“We ran an extensive search and process to hire the ideal candidate to oversee the technology needs of the nation’s largest school district and we are excited to announce our new CIO soon,” Styer wrote in a statement to the I-Team. “Scott Strickland has been Acting CIO and brought to the role decades of experience in technology and over 6 years’ experience with NYC Public Schools.”
But critics say the lack of a permanently installed CIO – six months into the new school year – suggests information technology has been treated as an afterthought.
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“We went into a remote day yesterday with that position not yet filled and it shows the DOE was grossly underprepared,” said Council Member Shekar Krishnan (D – Jackson Heights). “Filling positions in a timely way is a reflection of the priority and importance you give to that role. What happened yesterday was entirely foreseeable.”
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On Tuesday, Schools Chancellor David Banks said he was “disappointed, frustrated and angry” after the remote learning glitches stymied thousands of students as they tried to access virtual classrooms. But Banks placed the blame directly on IBM, one of the private vendors charged with making the city’s remote learning platform work.
IBM apologized for its part in the log-on problems and said the glitches were worked out by early afternoon – allowing 900,000 kids to successfully attend remote class.
