SCS Family,
The start of in-person learning opportunities on March 1 was the beginning of an essential and much-anticipated transition back to buildings. As students and teachers have returned, we have learned new lessons about our network systems and the Microsoft Teams platform we are using to provide instruction to students both in-person and away from school buildings.
We appreciate the GRACE, PATIENCE and FLEXIBILITY of our educators, students and parents as we work to provide reliable and timely support every day for our users. Below, you will find answers to several questions we have received over the past few days regarding our technology systems to help you know more about where we are in our journey.
FAST FACTS: SCS Technology Systems & Support
How does the District monitor connectivity outages and virtual learning disruptions? SCS monitors comments from all stakeholders daily, and our IT Help Desk staff is available to address specific questions from all users daily. Over the past week, employees have reported slow loading times for presentations on Microsoft Teams and difficulty in streaming videos through the Teams platform.
Did SCS block YouTube? No. Access to YouTube is not blocked; however, it is restricted using an educational content filter. IT is working with schools daily to determine the right mix of filtering that allows access to educationally-valuable video content, while blocking inappropriate websites.
How many outages have been reported since students returned to the buildings on March 1? There have been three noted outages - two localized outages (one in the South City neighborhood and the other in South Memphis) were associated with damaged fiber cables, while the third - an approximately 15-minute outage - occurred earlier this week when a vendor partner mistook a maintenance upgrade order scheduled for 9 p.m. as being ordered for 9 a.m.
Does Microsoft Teams have adequate capacity for District-wide video and other content streaming? Yes. SCS continues to work with Microsoft on maximizing capacity for all schools. The current challenge for SCS and other districts across the country is streaming videos through the Teams platform from multiple sites throughout the District simultaneously. As stated throughout the Return Stronger process, we will remain flexible and implement improvements as necessary.
What long term improvements or technology upgrades is SCS considering in order to address connectivity and network performance? Under the leadership of IT Chief Lakshmi Visvanathan, plans for a distributed wide-area network system have been underway. This three-year project will allow for redirection of internet signal routing to avoid bottlenecks in the system. In the short-term, SCS continues to work with ENA, the District’s internet provider, and Microsoft to improve network performance.
What did the District learn from last summer’s community internet capacity tests?
The county-wide POWER UP tests conducted last summer were centered around students and staff testing the performance/capacity of internet service providers throughout the community. Unlike those virtual tests, load tests with thousands of users present in school buildings were not possible. Instead, the IT team conducted projections of total usage expected in schools that have been helpful in identifying patterns and for troubleshooting.
Again, we appreciate your patience and partnership as we work to ensure dependable IT systems for our students and employees. To report issues, you can contact the IT Help Desk at (901) 416-2700 (option 5) during regular business hours.
-SCS Information Technology
