Since the start of the school year, the DPS Office of Information Technology has had approximately 24,000 “new customers” because of virtual instruction. Students, parents and grandparents are now regular callers to the IT Help Desk, which assists with troubleshooting technology and WiFi issues. 

At its busiest in September 2020, IT had more than 10,000 calls in a month — a 779% increase from the same month last year. 

The IT Help Desk is prepared to quickly resolve whatever issues staff or students might be experiencing. If a problem cannot be easily resolved over the phone, or if a device is damaged, the IT Break/Fix Center is open for walk-up appointments to allow families to quickly exchange the device for a new one. 

Behind the scenes, IT staff are hard at work to repair cracked screens, replace missing keyboard keys, fix broken cameras and more to get all Chromebooks in working condition to help students learn. 

Tasia Smiley, shown above, is one of those staff members. The 2019 graduate of David H. Ponitz Career Technology Center repairs damaged Chromebooks, salvages usable parts from non-working Chromebooks and ultimately ensures all students have a working device available to them. 

For help with Chromebooks, WiFi Hotspots, logging in and accessing DPS programs, call the IT Help Desk at 937-542-3184.