Matt Penner on Leading Ed Tech at Val Verde Unified School District

Matt Penner was looking to leave the grind of consulting for something much more fulfilling. While casting about for prospects, he interviewed—in the same week, no less—with two vastly different enterprises: a large casino, and Perris, California’s Val Verde Unified School District. It was then, he says, that he realized how important it was to support a positive, value-driven mission.

That was in 2006, and he had no education technology experience. Now, having spearheaded numerous tech initiatives, the director of IT has set Val Verde on the cutting edge when it comes to digital concepts, capabilities, and student experience.

“I’ve worked for a lot of terrible tech departments where they couldn’t care less about their users. But this simply isn’t an option in the education space. I’m always focused on the end user — in this case students and teachers.”

Ahead of the Digital, Educational Curve

Comprising 21 schools and 20,000 students in Perris, Val Verde was one of the first districts in Southern California to go digital, a feat conceptualized and realized by Penner.

When iPads first began appearing in 2012, he and district leadership secured funds to get them into the hands of principals and teachers. Shortly after, Chromebooks hit the market, providing a much less expensive opportunity to roll out devices district-wide.

A 1:1 Initiative That Went Home

Over four years, Penner and district leadership implemented a 1:1 Chromebook initiative, officially completed in 2017, and the “next natural step” was sending these devices home with kids. While some educators and parents were wary, and it was a culture shock for some families, simply having a device in the classroom wasn’t enough.

“The education, and the school day, don’t have to end when students leave the classroom.”

Now, as soon as a student registers with the district, they are given a Chromebook and within 24 hours are fully automated and synced with the district’s online learning capabilities. To help ease the transition for families, Val Verde has held programs to teach parents about Chromebooks, how to use them, and how to monitor their child’s internet safety.

Penner doesn’t take all the credit: “This wasn’t a Matt thing. We all thought it was important that kids have their own devices, and devices that they could take home.”

Prepared for the Worst

When COVID-19 hit, the well-established program greatly influenced the district’s efficiency. With students and teachers already having devices and online learning capabilities in place, Val Verde was able to quickly shift to distance learning entirely online.

The school system helped teachers adopt the most effective methods for online teaching and offered a dedicated site with interaction guides, best practices, scheduling templates, and social and emotional resources.

The Connectivity Gap

One of the biggest challenges of the pandemic shutdown was accessibility. Cell and internet companies don’t cover the entire district, so some students simply don’t have internet at home. In fact, 5 percent of Val Verde’s students never logged in throughout the shutdown.

The district supplies mobile hotspots, but Penner calls those a “band-aid.” His long-term goal is building a dedicated broadband network. Projects like that take more than IT know-how. Laying fiber and putting up towers means bringing in skilled crews, and many districts work with recruitment firms experienced in construction that source their talent in California to staff that kind of build.

During the summer leading up to the start of school, the district planned several reopening scenarios with a task force of educators, parents, and community leaders. Distance learning continued until at least October 30, at which point Val Verde would assess COVID-19 cases and receive input from the Department of Education. The plan was to eventually move to a blended or hybrid learning model.

But because the district had already done so much around 1:1 and distance learning, “we had overcome so many cultural hurdles that so many districts have been facing. I think getting 20,000 kids on wireless at the same time is pretty amazing.”

IT as a Value-Add

Penner was enthralled by technology beginning in kindergarten when he encountered his first computer. He started working in retail software as a teenager, then studied computer engineering and software development.

Prior to joining Val Verde in 2006, starting as a software developer, then moving up to director of IT in 2012, he spent time at Microsoft and with the Orange County Sheriff’s Department. His next big project is moving all files, servers, and business tools to the cloud.

Building a Department That Matters

The IT department has doubled in size over the last six years and, while previously in the red, now has a $3 million budget. This reflects Penner’s mission of being “the epitome of quality and service.” He emphasizes the importance of helping people understand the role and value of IT, it’s not just a department you call and yell at when something breaks.

“If no one knows what you do, that’s the quickest way to get fired. We want to be the ones that people want to call.”