{"id":69954,"date":"2026-01-30T15:54:45","date_gmt":"2026-01-30T18:54:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tech.einnews.com\/article\/888016511"},"modified":"2026-01-30T15:54:45","modified_gmt":"2026-01-30T18:54:45","slug":"tech-safety-updates-are-focus-of-wantagh-board-of-education-meeting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/2026\/01\/30\/tech-safety-updates-are-focus-of-wantagh-board-of-education-meeting\/","title":{"rendered":"Tech, safety updates are focus of Wantagh Board of Education meeting"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Wantagh Board of Education received an update from Perry Curry, the district\u2019s director of technology, on planned upgrades to technology infrastructure, cybersecurity, and data privacy in all five district schools at its Jan. 22 meeting at Wantagh High School.<\/a><\/p>\n

Curry opened her presentation uniquely, by playing a two-and-a-half-minute song she wrote about classroom learning with technology on Suno, an artificial intelligence tool with which users create a song based on words they give to A.I.<\/p>\n

Curry\u2019s song, she said, was meant to highlight the advancements made by A.I.-powered learning programs and their potential as educational tools for students. After it played, she emphasized A.I.\u2019s ability to recognize the district’s educational programs without being told what they were. \u201cIt understood what each of those programs did,\u201d she said. \u201cIt did it itself.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Several upgrades are already in place, according to Curry, including a new network connection to Wantagh Elementary for disaster recovery, a districtwide public address system and new classroom phones that allow external calls among all five schools.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re also able to call across the district,\u201d Curry said. \u201cIf I had a teacher who was having trouble in Wantagh Elementary, I could pick up the phone and call the classroom. It\u2019s been a game-changer for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
<\/a> <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

There were security camera upgrades at the middle and high school, and additional firewalls \u2014 a digital security system, which acts as a barrier between a trusted internal network and untrusted external networks such as the internet \u2014 was installed at Forest Lake, Mandalay and Wantagh Elementary School, she added.<\/p>\n

Looking to the future, more fiber runs, which transmit data, voice, and video signals at high speeds over long distances using light pulses instead of electricity, are planned to enable more efficient communication in an emergency, alongside upgraded battery backups. Plans for camera upgrades at all three elementary schools are also being finalized, according to Curry.<\/p>\n

In May 2019, district servers were infected by ransomware \u2014 malicious software that locks systems unless a ransom is paid. The virus corrupted software installed on computers districtwide, including Adobe Creative Suite and Microsoft Office, according to a 2019 report in The Warrior<\/a>, the high school\u2019s student news website.<\/p>\n

\u201cI still relive May 2, 2019,\u201d Curry said, referring to the day of the attack, and she outlined cybersecurity improvements the district has made since then. They include tabletop response exercises, staff training, partnerships with Nassau BOCES and the county district attorney\u2019s office, as well as participation in federal cybersecurity programs. She also noted the implementation of multifactor authentication, mandatory email encryption, and regular penetration testing of district systems.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to eat the bad vegetables first,\u201d Curry said, referring to the infrastructure and compliance work that comes before students\u2019 use of technology. \u201cThis is where the heart of what we do is.\u201d She pointed to broader uses of tools like Brisk \u2014 an A.I. platform that integrates with programs like Google Chrome to generate feedback, adapt to student needs and support learning materials \u2014 and School AI, which provides real-time student data and personalized teaching tools.<\/p>\n

Newer interactive white boards will be installed, and there will be reviews of the effectiveness of current student instructional software, Curry added. She also highlighted the new three-grade cycle for student Chromebooks \u2014 with students getting their first devices in second grade, new ones in sixth grade and final one in ninth grade.<\/p>\n

Beyond classroom technology, the board also addressed a different kind of tech during the meeting: electronic bikes. Last year there were several fatal and severe e-bike accidents on Long Island, including the deaths of a 14-year-old in North Bellmore and a 15-year-old in New Hyde Park, and the critical injury of a 13-year-old in East Islip.<\/p>\n

After those accidents, \u201cWe took a much closer look at our policy,\u201d Superintendent John McNamara explained. The district, he said, consulted with the Nassau County Police Department, and \u201cthey really informed us of all the significant restrictions for, really, anybody under 16 to be on an e-bike.\u201d The updated policy was placed on the agenda and approved later that night.<\/p>\n

More than 30 student musicians in grades five through 12 were honored at the beginning of the meeting for their participation in the Nassau Music Education Association\u2019s 2026 All-County Festival and the Long Island String Festival. The performances took place earlier this month, at the Tilles Center for the Performing Arts at LIU Post, in Brookville.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose rehearsals are grueling, but our students did an amazing job,\u201d Kelly Jones, the district\u2019s director of fine and performing arts, said. \u201cYou should be so proud of your accomplishments.\u201d<\/p>\n

The board\u2019s next meeting is Feb. 3.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/strong> <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

… \u00e2\u0080\u0099s director of technology<\/span>, on planned upgrades to technology<\/span> infrastructure, cybersecurity, and … wrote about classroom learning with technology<\/span> on Suno, an artificial intelligence … classroom technology<\/span>, the board also addressed a different kind of tech<\/span> during …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-69954","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","wpcat-1-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69954","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=69954"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69954\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69954"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69954"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69954"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}