Information Technology
Technology Vision
We will construct a technology enriched
learning environment and community,
which will innovate and adapt in a rapidly changing world,
thus enabling ALL students to reach their highest potential
as learners, leaders, citizens and family/community members.
BE EPIC
Empower
Promote
Integrate
Champion
Technology Mission
Sweetwater County School District #1 will
use technology to empower students to
become better problem solvers and decision makers while they integrate vast amounts
of information in an environment promoted by challenging, student-centered instruction.
All staff members will be empowered to champion technology and construct an environment that embraces and integrates
technology into every aspect of the learning environment.
Sweetwater County School District #1 Technology Department Overview
The Technology Department of Sweetwater County School District #1 plays a vital role in supporting teaching, learning, and operational efficiency across the district. With a strong focus on digital equity and access, the department ensures that all students and staff have the tools and infrastructure needed to thrive in a 21st-century educational environment.
Student Devices
To support student learning at every grade level, the district provides dedicated technology devices:
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Grades K–2: Each student receives an iPad, giving younger learners access to age-appropriate apps and digital resources that enhance foundational literacy, numeracy, and creative skills.
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Grades 3–12: All students in upper elementary through high school are issued MacBook laptops, enabling them to complete assignments, conduct research, and engage in digital collaboration both in the classroom and at home.
These 1:1 device programs ensure consistent access to technology, helping prepare students for future academic and professional success.
Network Infrastructure
All in-town school buildings in Sweetwater County School District #1 are connected via high-speed fiber-optic internet, providing reliable and fast connectivity for students, teachers, and staff. This robust infrastructure supports online learning platforms, digital assessments, video conferencing, and cloud-based applications, creating a seamless digital learning experience.
Support and Innovation
The Technology Department also provides ongoing support, maintenance, and training for both students and staff. By fostering innovation and ensuring that systems are secure, efficient, and up-to-date, the department plays a key role in advancing the district’s mission to empower every student to learn and succeed in a rapidly changing world.
Through strategic investment in devices and infrastructure, Sweetwater County School District #1 demonstrates a strong commitment to technology-enhanced education.
Spam Filtering
The technology department uses Barracuda for it email spam. Here is a great document explaining how spam filters work, and how we use them in Sweetwater #1.
📧 Why emails get filtered as spam
A plain-language guide for staff — Barracuda + Google Workspace
🔍 Every email goes through two checks
Before any email reaches your Gmail inbox, it passes through Barracuda — a security system that runs two checks on every message.
📨 Email arrives
↓
Check 1 — Who is sending it?
🌐 Sender reputation check
Is this server on a global blocklist?
Is this server on a global blocklist?
→
🚫 Rejected
No score assigned
No score assigned
↓ passes
Check 2 — What does it say?
📄 Content scan
Reads the message, gives a score 0–10
Reads the message, gives a score 0–10
↓
✅ Delivered, held, or blocked
Based on the score
Based on the score
📊 What the spam score means
Messages that pass Check 1 get a score from 0 (totally fine) to 10 (definitely spam). Here's what happens at each level:
Held messages go to quarantine — they aren't lost. You'll receive a daily digest email listing your quarantined messages, and you can release any of them directly from that email to deliver them to your inbox.
🤔 "This email always got through — why is it blocked now?"
Our settings didn't change. Something on the sender's end did. Two things shift on their own:
Global blocklists update constantly
Security databases track "bad" mail servers worldwide. A sender whose server was fine last week can appear on a blocklist this week — maybe their account was hacked, or they share a server with someone sending spam. We have no control over these lists.
The message itself changed
A newsletter that used to score 1.5 might now score 3.2 because the sender redesigned it, added tracking links, or used words that trip the filter. Our threshold stayed the same — the email crossed it.
🗂️ It might not even be about the score
Barracuda also sorts bulk email into categories like marketing, mailing lists, and social media. Rather than blocking categories, we have policies that allow mail from specific trusted groups — so if a sender doesn't fall into one of those allowed groups, their mail may still be held even with a low spam score.
When this is the reason, the Message Log will show a category name rather than a score — so it can look confusing if you're expecting a number. If a legitimate sender is being held, contact IT to check whether they need to be added to an allowed group.
Student Privacy
FERPA - Family Education Rights and Privacy Act
FERPA prohibits the school district, and those services that we contractually enter into agreements with, from disclosing personally identifiable information from students’ education records without the consent of a parent or eligible student, unless an exception to FERPA’s general consent rule applies, The general consent exceptions require a school to provide certain privacy protections for those education records that it does maintain, either onsite or offsite.
COPPA - Children's Online Privacy Protection Act
COPPA applies to commercial companies and limits their ability to collect personal information from children under 13. Only for-profit websites can violate COPPA. A school district cannot violate COPPA because we are not a for-profit website nor do we offer for-profit services. However, we are cognizant of the requirements of COPPA and how it affects the services we purchase and use.
Content Filtering
Federal laws require the usage of content filters in K-12 institutions, SCSD1 utilizes a few different methods in which to accomplish this task.
Staffing Information
Technology Staff (18)
10 Building Technology Specialists
1 Computer Technician (Certified Apple Repair)
1 Systems Specialist
1 Network Specialist
2 Student Information Specialists
1 Integration Specialist
1 Administrative Assistant
1 Chief Information Officer
Technology Device Information
- Mac Computers - 5500
- iPads - 1800
- PC Computers - 200
- Servers - 180 (130 virtual, 50 physical)
- Network - Robust fiber network between in-town sites
- Switches - 230
- Access Points - 570
- Projectors - 100
- Newline TVs - 750
- Document Cameras - 500
- Classroom Audio Systems - 300
- Apple TVs - 250
- Wacom Tables - 375
- Swivl Cameras - 500