A recent survey of 51 K12 IT professionals conducted by StatusGator reveals important issues in educational technology. IT teams are primarily concerned about outages, privacy compliance, and cybersecurity threats. Protecting sensitive student data is critical due to increasing regulations and rising cyberattacks. Another major headache is updating IT policies. The rapid pace of technology requires constant adjustments, which can be complex and time-consuming for IT teams.

Outages are a major concern for K-12 IT staff: 78% anticipate extra work during outages, often needing to troubleshoot, diagnose, and restore services. Many experience recurring issues, with 69% expecting similar tickets. Email is the primary method for notifying staff about outages, utilized by 94% of districts, while IT status pages and apps are less common.

StatusGator’s CEO and co-founder, Colin Bartlett, commented on the findings: “I recognize the significant challenges K-12 IT staff face daily. The data reveals that 78% report extra work during outages, and it’s concerning that 69% face similar recurring issues, highlighting the need for better systems and communication.”

Of the respondents to the survey, 50% said they use IT status pages. Some 88% provide one-to-one devices for older students, but only 56% do so for Kindergarten and 13.7% for Pre-K. 72% of infrastructure is in the cloud for most schools. On average, schools depend on 36 vendors. Those managing over 101 third-party apps and vendors are digital heroes navigating a complex landscape.

The top concerns of K-12 IT teams are privacy compliance, cybersecurity threats, and updating IT policies. These issues are critical due to regulations and technological changes. The least pressing issues include Wi-Fi coverage, BYOD policies, and remote learning challenges. The reduced concern for remote learning likely stems from adaptations made during the pandemic.

The average district employs 12 IT staff members. Staffing levels vary: 8% have only 1 person, 35% have 2-5, 33% have 5-20, and 24% have more than 21. The average student-to-IT ratio is 1,394, but 46% manage fewer than 500 students per staff member. The average school has about 13,000 students, highlighting diverse IT needs.

The survey was conducted among U.S. school district employees, collecting 51 valid responses. The respondents included 31% in senior roles such as Director and CTO, while 69% held positions like Sysadmin, IT Specialist, and Technology Coordinator.