MCPS forms Division of Technology Services, plans strategic tech plan update and draft AI regulation this fall

Montgomery County Public Schools staff told the County Council Education and Culture Committee on July 25 that MCPS has established a new Division of Technology Services, reorganizing several functions (business information services, cybersecurity and technology infrastructure, educational technology, student and data systems) and committing district resources to device repair, staffing and strategic planning.

Doug Prouty, senior legislative analyst, walked the committee through packet figures for prior allocations, listing FY2017 funding of $3,000,000 to expand Chromebook access and FY2023 additions of about $800,000 for devices and hotspots. Prouty said the current fiscal year includes an allocation of $3,160,218 “for Chromebook repair and also in terms of setting up the new division of technology services.”

Kimberly Fields, chief technology officer, described early division metrics and programs. She reported Synergy parent view active usage at 91% and said MCPS will follow up with the council on how that usage figure is defined and on analytics depth. Fields also said MCPS recorded about 15,000,000 Google Assignments launches over six months, with most usage at the high‑school level, and that SchoolCash Online shows 79.2% usage.

Inspector General report and device management: Fields acknowledged the Office of Inspector General Chromebook inventory‑management report released in May and said MCPS is working to resolve identified issues; she said MCPS will have an initial touch point with the inspector general in August and milestone reporting through September with an early‑fall update to the council.

Strategic plan and AI: Fields said MCPS is creating a new comprehensive strategic technology plan (the previous plan was from 2014–2017) and expects to provide a timeline and further updates in the fall. On artificial intelligence, Fields said the district is offering summer AI courses for educators, is evaluating detection and instructional tools, and plans to release a draft regulation for AI use that will be shared later this fall. Fields told the committee, “we are currently updating 1 of our policies, and we will have a regulation for the artificial intelligence that we are working on that will be further shared out later this fall.”

Professional development and partnerships: MCPS said it is offering multiple professional development modules (including AI ethics and instruction), attending national conferences, and partnering with teaching and learning teams and parent groups (MCCPTA technology committee) to gather feedback. Council members asked MCPS to include student input and external experts; MCPS said it will convene stakeholders and develop pilot instructional resources.

Costs and device lifecycle: Fields said replacement‑part costs have increased and that MCPS will improve tracking of breakage and refresh cycles to manage budget impacts.

Next steps: MCPS staff said they will provide a fall update on the strategic technology plan timeline, share the inspector general touchpoint results, publish the draft AI regulation later this fall, and return with additional details on analytics and training content.