Dawn Walker

Many of the spending decisions districts are asked to make are high-stakes. When it comes to investing in the sorts of tools and platforms that power instruction and shape district management, it’s a process of delegation and collaboration involving administrators across academic and technology departments, and in some cases, teachers. In this panel, we’ll talk with district officials who have been immersed in this decision-making about the process they follow, how they try to cultivate buy-in across the system, how the pandemic may have changed the process they follow, and what support and collaboration they expect from the companies seeking to partner with their school systems. We’ll also look at the extent to which federal stimulus funding has allowed districts to innovate or plug holes created during the COVID era.