[TriLUG] support for switching to Linux, esp. for schools

[Myrhillion]

Cristobal,

Each school system or LEA (local education agency) generally has a 
director level type IT person working at the school system's central office.
This is generally within the superintendent's office for the LEA, for 
Greensboro (guilford county), it's 370-8390.
http://www.gcsnc.com/information/departments.html

Here's a link to technology services at GCS:
http://its.gcsnc.com/   (you should explore this for the technology plan)

You basically have to sell it to the guy that runs IT for the school 
system, it won't happen unless he _successfully_ pitches
it to the superintendent or the school system has a more liberal school 
by school policy (more common in smaller systems I think). 
You might call up and have a conversation with the IT director about how 
they implement labs and such in the school systems before you go 
anywhere else or
spend more energy on a plan.   That said, developing and practicing 
planning skills is very useful!

As far as who could do this in your area, a good place to start is with 
the local chamber of commerce for your city.
http://www.greensboro.org/
Go to business directory and do a search on "computers", beyond that 
you'd have to contact each service vendor and find out
if they "do linux".

Good luck!

Doug Taggart
Troops to Teachers

Cristobal Palmer wrote:

>What's DPE? Did you mean DPI?
>
>Let me see if I understand you: she should draw up a detailed plan
>that is likely to get approval and, if that gets approved, try to
>substitute Open Source solutions for the proprietary ones in the plan?
>Perhaps you meant that the idea of getting Open Source into the school
>is not one that is likely to happen at all because it must be cleared
>by the board?
>
>I failed to mention in my original email one of the driving factors
>behind this: the school is a dual-immersion Spanish-English school.
>Among other things, this means investing in more software. If Linux
>can help _any_ school, I think this is the one.
>
>Anybody else have stories to share, input to offer?
>
>-CMP
>
>On 3/1/06, Ryan Leathers <ryan.leathers at globalknowledge.com> wrote:
>  
>
>>Tell her to get in touch with DPE and set up an appointment to discuss
>>her school's tech plan.  Before anything else happens, the tech plan
>>needs to be in line.  It almost certainly does not include any language
>>favorable to the use of Linux in particular or open source in general.
>>On the other hand, it very likely includes specific MS product titles in
>>the plan.  The tech plan has to be in line and approved before any work
>>like this can get off the ground.
>>
>>On Wed, 2006-03-01 at 14:33 -0500, Cristobal Palmer wrote:
>>    
>>
>>>A recent thread and a slashdot entry got me to wondering: who around
>>>here would/could do initial setup and/or ongoing support for switching
>>>a school to Linux. My mom is the principal of an elementary school in
>>>Greensboro. Who should she call up if she wants to get her school
>>>switched? Keep in mind that she'd have to sell the idea to her boss,
>>>so me (her son, a student) doing it wouldn't fly.
>>>
>>>I know there are some great web resources and distros out there (eg.
>>>edubuntu, http://www.ltsp.org/ ), but who are the people who could
>>>make it happen locally?
>>>
>>>Any redhatters wanna pipe up on what you guys offer?
>>>http://www.redhat.com/en_us/USA/home/solutions/education/ didn't tell
>>>me too much.
>>>
>>>Anybody have an Edubuntu success story?
>>>
>>>Some time back I watched TechCoaches.org get up and moving with a
>>>LiveCD project for home use:
>>>
>>>http://www2.chccs.k12.nc.us/education/components/whatsnew/default.php?sectiondetailid=8599&id=291&viewType=detail
>>>
>>>but haven't heard anything recently. Anybody?
>>>
>>>TIA,
>>>CMP
>>>
>>>--
>>>
>>>Cristobal M. Palmer
>>>UNC-CH SILS Student
>>>cristobalpalmer at gmail.com
>>>cmpalmer at ils.unc.edu
>>>ils.unc.edu/~cmpalmer
>>>"Television-free since 2003"
>>>      
>>>
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>>
>>    
>>
>
>
>--
>
>Cristobal M. Palmer
>UNC-CH SILS Student
>cristobalpalmer at gmail.com
>cmpalmer at ils.unc.edu
>ils.unc.edu/~cmpalmer
>"Television-free since 2003"
>  
>