Community members ready to help - School and Town Website

[Gopal Shenoy]

I have been in at least couple of meetings where community residents
who are software professionals have offered to help the school
district and town to update the website. Many of us do this as part of
our professional life.

But to this date, we have not received any response from either the
town or the school to even explore this to the next level. What can be
done to attract more attention from the town and the school? Of
course, I can spend more time to call these folks and get their
attention, but should'nt the town and the school show a little more
responsiveness when residents show interest and offer help?

Gopal

[bob.ha...@gmail.com]

I wonder what meetings those were and who from the school district or
the municipal government was present who could have noted your
interest and done something about it.

The school web presence is under the control of the school district
which has paid staff in charge of what they do on it. Was someone
from the school district who could act on your offer present at the
meetings you are talking about?

On the municipal side there is an IT Committee which is actively
addressing the town web site in support of the Town Administrator and
the Selectmen. Who from the municipal government who could act on
your offer or pass it along was present at the meetings you are
talking about?

I should note that positions on the IT Committee, as with all the town
committees have membership opportunities advertised periodically. The
best way to get involved and contribute is to take an interest in the
work of a committee, contact its members and attended meetings, and
hopefully apply for membership when there is an opportunity.

[SueZ]

Mary Ann Cotton mentioned this at the Selectman's meeting last night,
when the IT committee was presenting. It sounded like that committee
was receptive to volunteers. Contacting that committee may be the
best place to start.

On May 6, 6:31�am, Gopal Shenoy <gopal.she...@gmail.com> wrote:

[Peter R. Carlson]

Gopal,
If you recall the other week when we have met, you can see the Town's
website at http://www.town.grafton.ma.us/Public_Documents/GraftonMA_BComm/vacancies
and see when they post the vacancies for any committee. At this time
I do not see the posting for the Technology Committee on the site.
As of now I know of two such vacancies on the Technology Committee and
you may want to call or write to the Board of Selectman's office to
state your interest and or attend a meeting. You can see when the
next meeting is and where by viewing online at
http://www.town.grafton.ma.us/Public_Documents/GraftonMA_Calendar/?formid=158
the next meeting is posted for the 15th of this month at 7:00 PM.

Kind Regards,

Peter C.

> > Gopal- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

[Mary Ann Cotton]

At the BOS meeting last night the Technology Committee presented options for
providing IT support for the municipal website and internal computer
networks. I mentioned that there were people in the community with the
expertise and willingness to help - at least two gentlemen that I met (Raghu
and Ravi I think.) We would benefit from having them on the IT
committee..there are openings. If you are interested, please email me at
maryan...@verizon.net and I can direct you to the IT Chairman. I will
see Dr. Connors this week about assistance with the School District site.
Mary Ann

[Speed Racer]

I too echo your frustration, Gopal.
I work and consult in software and technology too.

I have contacted the school staff, principals, Superintendent, School
Comm. on an issue pertaining to the school web and security of our
kids in the schools; -- to the point of citing Mass. General Law and
the responsibility to protect our kids. (I won't go into it here you
can contact me off list.)
I have even sent the proper set-up instructions and samples from
other school districts on how to eliminate the issue. It is not a big
deal or expensive fix.

Responses from the contacted parties fit into 2 neat categories:
1) I don't understand technology therefore I will pass it along....
2) Referral back to the same organization responsible for the issue in
the first place.

After almost 1 school year I gave up.

I have offered to help with the town website. We will see where that
goes...

Oh, yeah, I have contacted (by phone and email) our newest Select
Board member to discuss another issue. That was 16 days ago...

I have moved on to helping those that want to be helped.

--Sign me Cynical in Grafton

On May 6, 6:31 am, Gopal Shenoy <gopal.she...@gmail.com> wrote:

[maryan...@verizon.net]

Cynical, Thank you for the reminder to be responsive and accountable. You must be the one phone call/email I have not returned out of more than 100 in the past two weeks. Sorry about that.

You are correct that the technology issues we face are significant. Mr. Hassinger has posted thoroughly about some of the history and efforts underway. Just last week the BOS signed a contract with a consultant to begin upgrades to the Town network. The school department is taking similar steps to evalutate their network so that teachers can successfully access the system from home and to ensure that the network is reliable and available. The school website is managed through the Technology Director, Marcia Periera. She is also the webmaster for the website and updates that with the help of the AP Computer Science class. In a conversation with Dr. Connors, he suggested contacting Marcia directly (she offices at the high school) to discuss opportunities for outside support and input. For good reason, the department will not relinquish control of the website - but there is likely an opportunity to participate in its management and future development. I would futher suggest contacting Donna Stock or Bob Mulvey of the school committee as they could possibly facilitate that conversation - and/or at least get it on the school committee's agenda for discussion.

Let me know how you do.

Mary Ann

[Speed Racer]

Dear Ms. Cotton,
Thank you for your timely reply. I will take it upon myself to reach
out to you again.

Yes, I did see the discussion on Grafton CATV in the BOS meeting.
This is step in the right direction for the town staff which did seem
to be the topic of lions-share of the discussion. What I am
specifically more interested in and focused on is customer facing
part. The town web and the school web. I have been trying to get
action on both of these for 3-4 years. One would think this would be
the priority as this is what parents / taxpayers see, but I guess not?

With respect to the second part of your note, not to be MORE cynical,
but, 'been there, done that.' All of it; with the parties you mention
-- with the exception of the last action, 'getting on the School Comm.
agenda. Based on the nature of my issue (security) I didn't think
broadcasting it on cable tv was the thing to do.

That is how I have done. Any other ideas?

--Still Cynical and Frustrated in Grafton

[crog...@gmail.com]

For what it's worth...

When my wife and I toured the high school we saw Marcia's "office". I use
the quotes because it is a boiler room. There are many water pipes in the
ceiling and this past winter, a water leak flooded the floor in this room.
This also happens to be the location of all of the school's servers as well
as the district's web server. (I noticed all of the servers are on a third
shelf of the rack - about 3 feet off the floor - probably to keep them dry!)

If discussions are taking place about improving the reliability,
availability and security of the school's network - I would hope this
inadequate space can be addressed.

Chris

-----Original Message-----
From: grafton...@googlegroups.com
[mailto:grafton...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of