September 11th, 2020 by WCBC Radio

Dr Kim Kalbaugh, Chief Academic Officer for the Allegany County Board of Education, acknowledged that while there have been some glitches with online learning in this opening week of the new school year, they are not widespread and are being addressed. A number of parents contacted WCBC Radio expressing concern with problems they have experienced with the new “schoology” program being used by the system. Board member Deb Frank said that when using a new program some growing pains can be expected, but they are not serious problems….

 

Information provided by a board spokesperson indicated that overall the technology has been going well. Schools are receiving laptops and chromebooks as they need them as well as any extras for new enrollees; but they estimate that they have given out to students and families the majority of the needs to date. The IT Help Desk fielded over 300 calls the first day of school, but progressively the number of calls to the Help Desk have gone down each day. They do report there are some families with Internet issues that are bigger than just a hotspot can address in areas like Flintstone, Oldtown, and Mount Savage where high speed Internet just does not exist and cellular coverage is spotty.