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November 15, 2004

Mayor Cites Need to Utilize Technology to the Fullest

Woodbridge Township has received an Innovation in Governance award from the New Jersey State League of Municipalities, Mayor Frank G. Pelzman has announced.

The award honors the Tech 2000 and Beyond program, a partnership between the Township and the Woodbridge Township School District that puts the latest computer technology at the fingertips of every student in Woodbridge Township .

Mayor Pelzman will accept the award Nov. 17 during the League of Municipalities’ Mayors Luncheon at the Sheraton Atlantic City Convention Center Hotel.

“Tech 2000 and Beyond has given the township and school system the opportunity to utilize technology to the fullest,” says Mayor Pelzman. “And the winners are the students of Woodbridge Township.”

Tech 2000 and Beyond is an ambitious, three-phase initiative that has wired up the Township’s 24 schools and four administrative buildings with 3,000 networked computers loaded with internet access and state-of-the-art software. Its goal is to give students the technological know-how they need to compete in the 21 st century and wed the latest technology with course work to strengthen curriculum.

The elaborate network is designed to support computer workstations running the latest curriculum software and office products, while providing shared hardware, software and internet access to every teacher, administrator and student in the system.

“Shared services is a key component in putting kids first,” said Michael D. Esolda , Chief Information Officer of Woodbridge Township and Woodbridge Township School District . “This is a unique collaborative effort of government, education and industry.”

Lois Rotella , Assistant Superintendent of the Woodbridge Township School District, notes that Tech 2000 and Beyond “has enabled us to deliver a solid educational product to our students while minimizing costs to the district.”

Linking up the school system and town hall in New Jersey’s fifth-largest municipality was a mammoth technological feat. Woodbridge is among the 10 largest school districts in the state, with more than 13,600 students, 1,200 teachers and 400 administrative and support staff. Knowing that effective technology must be both accessible and reliable, the school district established a robust infrastructure, allowing for connectivity between the system’s 28 facilities and town hall.

The network’s nerve center is housed in the Township municipal complex, where servers, routers, Internet connections, application servers and the shared training center are all housed. The media center at each school functions as an information hub, equipped with Internet connection, library automation software and a variety of electronic databases.

And Tech 2000 and Beyond did not just plug in the goodies and run. The initiative included a rigorous training program for teachers, administrators and staff with more than 50 in-service training sessions.

Mayor Pelzman is pleased the League of Municipalities shares the Township’s vision. “Mastery of technology and information literacy skills is essential for success in the modern workplace,” he says. “Through Tech 2000 and Beyond, Woodbridge Township students will have the tools to thrive professionally in a global, high-tech society.”