The document summarizes Boston Public Schools' experience transitioning to remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. It discusses their timeline of events, including closing all schools on March 16th and beginning remote learning on March 17th. It describes their key priorities of getting devices and internet access to all students while maintaining safety and remote planning. The document also outlines lessons learned, such as having cloud-ready systems in place and being prepared to adjust quickly. Finally, it discusses best practices for remote filtering and securing mobile hotspots to provide consistent access for distance learning.

1. The Birthplace of Public Education in the
Nation: Boston Public SchoolsShare Their
COVID-19 Journey
June 18, 2020 I 12pm PT I 3pm ET
Dr. Julie Evans
CEO, Project
Tomorrow
Peter Martini
Co-founder and
President, iboss
Joe Cosmano
SVP of Engineering
Services, iboss
MarkRacine
CIO, BostonPublic
Schools

2. 2Copyright © 2020 | iboss. All RightsReserved.
Before School Closures – During School Closures – After School Closures

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In light of school closures, what is waking
up our K-12 school and district leaders in
the middle of the night?
Before School Closures – During School Closures – After School Closures
1. Responsive support: health and well-being of staff and school families,
providing meals, offering childcare and resource information
2. Remote learning: facilitating the continuity of learning to the best of
our abilities and capacity
3. Recovery – readjustment – reinvention: building uponwhat we know
and what we are expecting
Three waves of focus within our K-12 schools and districts:

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At a Glance...
• The birthplace of public education, our first
school was opened in 1635
• Aging infrastructure with our oldest school
built in 1885
• Enrollment of 55,000 students across 130
buildings
• 10,000 employees (~5000 are teachers)
• 2.4 students per device prior to COVID
• Take-home pilots in 3 schools with plans
to go 1:1 in September
Image source: The Boston Globe: https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/03/15/nation/bps-providing-students-with-chromebooks-while-schools-are-closed-due-coronavirus/

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BPS Case Study Video:

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AGENDA:
• Timeline for Closure
• Making the Shift
• Key Priorities
• Safety and Remote Planning
• Lessons Learned
• How to Ensure Technology is Helping Students
be SuccessfulDuring Distance Learning

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Speaker Introduction – Boston Public Schools
Mark Racine
Chief Information Officer
Boston Public Schools

8. Mark Racine
CIO, Boston Public Schools
8Copyright © 2020 | iboss. All RightsReserved.
• March 12 – First school closure
• March 13 – District announces full closure
• March 14 – 20,000 additional devices purchased
• March 16 – Last day of in-person school
• March 17 – First day of remote school
• March 18 – 20,000 devices begin distribution
Timeline for Closure

9. • All students must have access to a device and Internet
• District devices & hotspots had to be safely deployed
• State & local guidelines were constantly evolving,
adding to the complexity of distributions
• Student safety is our main priority;
• Digital citizenship
• Exposure to COVID 19
• Increased cyber threats
• Lost/unresponsive students
Mark Racine
CIO, Boston Public Schools
Key Priorities
9Copyright © 2020 | iboss. All RightsReserved.

10. Most end-user functions were already cloud-ready
• All academic systems are cloud-hosted
• All applications acquired after 2016 are cloud-hosted
• Local/network storage was shifted to GSuite
• ~25 people needed VPN after closure
Mark Racine
CIO, Boston Public Schools
Making the Shift...
Only 2 applications needed to be modified to enable remote-work;
• Call center
• Content filtering...
10Copyright © 2020 | iboss. All RightsReserved.

11. Mark Racine
CIO, Boston Public Schools
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Safety & Remote Planning
• Early data/analytics allowed us to
identify and locate missing students
• Resource allocation was based on needs
• Schools had access to real-time
student participation data
• Leadership was able to stay
focused on outcomes,not outputs

12. • Change does not occur overnight;
Boston would not have been able to start
the next day if we had not laid the
groundwork over the last few years
• Teams must learn to be nimble and
adjust on the fly
• Never let a crisis go to waste!
Mark Racine
CIO, Boston Public Schools
Lessons Learned
12Copyright © 2020 | iboss. All RightsReserved.

13. Speaker Introductions – iboss
Peter Martini
Co-founderand President
iboss
Joe Cosmano
SVP of Engineering Services
iboss

14. 14Copyright © 2020 | iboss. All RightsReserved.
COVID-19 – Getting a Device in Students Hands for
Off-Premise Learning is Top Priority
• Most districts are not 100% any one type of device
(Chromebook vs. iOS vs. Windows)
• Deploy filtering solutions which focus on the student and are device
agnostic
• This ensures consistent filtering and reporting across the student's base
• Also reduces the strain on district resources by reducing troubleshooting
issues and allowing uninterrupted distance learning
Deliver Consistent Filtering Policies and Reporting
Regardless of Device
Mark Racine
CIO, Boston Public
Schools
Joe Cosmano
SVP of Engineering
Services, iboss
Peter Martini
Co-founder and
President, iboss

15. 15
• Reduced latency for SaaS applications as
traffic hair pinning is eliminated allowing
students and teachers to be more productive
• Eliminate overwhelming district infrastructure
(Firewalls, etc.) with VPN and traffic backhauling
• Increased access for students with slow
internet connections
• Supports any device, tablet or phone operating
system
• Reduces the resource strain on the district's
technology team
At Home CIPA Filtering: Securing Student Devices Direct to Cloud is More Effective
District Network
Internet
Students on
campus
CIPA
compliance
at district
CIPA compliance
Students at home with devices &
laptops
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Direct to cloud internet filtering eliminates many of the issues found with traffic backhauling
Mark Racine
CIO, Boston Public
Schools
Joe Cosmano
SVP of Engineering
Services, iboss
Peter Martini
Co-founder and
President, iboss

16. 16
• If access to the WIFI hotspot is open, how
can you ensure that the available bandwidth is
available for and used for educational purposes
vs other activity?
• Consider combining the deployment of hotspots
with devices and working with the carriers to
restrict access to only the district issues devices
Equitable Access: Securing Mobile Hotspots
Copyright © 2020 | iboss. All RightsReserved.
Example - iboss cloud secured student devices
can only connect to district hotspots to ensure fast,
secure, and compliant internet access for educational
purposes while retaining visibility across all student
internet access for CIPA compliance
➢ Districts are accelerating their 1:1 initiatives
➢ Others are handing out devices previously used for carts
➢ Others are ordering new inventory to send home with users
➢ Digital Divide Persists
Considerations When Deploying Hotspots?
Mark Racine
CIO, Boston Public
Schools
Joe Cosmano
SVP of Engineering
Services, iboss
Peter Martini
Co-founder and
President, iboss

17. 17
iboss User Risk Dashboard
High Risk Activity
The need for at risk reporting is critical in identifying
students who are at risk of harming themselves or others.
• Quickly identify high-risk network activity
• Monitors while students are at home or school
• Instantly alerts staff
Copyright © 2020 | iboss. All RightsReserved.
“The need to protect students from harm has never been higher due to the pressures of social media and
online bullying. The new high-risk and at-risk EDU reporting dashboards provide school staff the instant
notification of any at risk or high-risk student allowing them to get them the help they need sooner.”
- Peter Martini, President of iboss.
Mark Racine
CIO, Boston Public
Schools
Joe Cosmano
SVP of Engineering
Services, iboss
Peter Martini
Co-founder and
President, iboss

18. 18
Copyright © 2020 | iboss. All RightsReserved.
Summary
• Deploy cloud solutions which delivers consistent
features/function regardless of the type of device
• Leverage cloud inventory management tools to
deliver proactive outreach for students having
trouble connecting from home
• Classroom management, at risk student
monitoring and single pane of glass reporting
helps districts stay engaged with students
Joe Cosmano
SVP of Engineering
Services, iboss

19. For more information please visit: www.iboss.com
Q&A

20. COVID19 – Reshaping the IT/EdTech
Landscape at El Paso ISD
July 23, 2020 I 12pm PT I 3pm ET Alice Ramos
CIO, El Paso ISD
TonyFlores
Director of IT Operations,
El Paso ISD
Steve Crye
Network Infrastructure
Manager, El Paso ISD
Joe Cosmano
SVP of Engineering
Services, iboss
Dr. JulieEvans
CEO, Project Tomorrow
PeterMartini
Co-founder and
President, iboss