📰 Monroe RIC News

As we close out another successful school year, we’re excited to introduce the first edition of our Monroe RIC newsletter, created to strengthen connection, share important updates, and support the districts we proudly serve.

While summer offers time to recharge, it is also one of the most important seasons for preparation. Behind the scenes, teams across Monroe One BOCES are actively working to ensure a smooth and successful start to the upcoming school year; from device readiness and system updates to service enhancements and planning.

This newsletter is designed to keep you informed, connected, and supported throughout that work. Our goal is to provide timely information, highlight key initiatives, and strengthen our partnership with each district.

We believe that a successful school year starts with strong collaboration and clear communication. By staying connected over the summer months, we can prepare together, anticipate needs, and ensure everything is in place for students and staff on day one.

Thank you for your continued partnership. We look forward to supporting your success in the year ahead.

While schools are quieter during the summer months, the work behind the scenes is in full motion. The Monroe Regional Information Center (RIC) helps to support districts prepare for a successful start to the school year.

Summer is a key time for districts to complete infrastructure updates with minimal disruption. The RIC is working alongside district teams to support network readiness, system performance, and overall technology reliability. This includes planning and coordinating upgrades, ensuring systems are secure, and preparing environments for increased demand in the fall. The importance of this work is reflected in regional planning efforts that include technology, data, and security leadership across districts.

Perhaps most importantly, summer is a time for strategic planning. The RIC partners with districts to review current systems, assess needs, and develop technology plans that align with instructional and operational goals. This collaborative approach ensures that districts are not only ready for September—but positioned for long-term success.

Through infrastructure support, device readiness, and strategic planning, the RIC remains committed in helping districts start the school year strong.

The RIC is moving some workloads to the cloud, which means faster updates, easier scaling, and less time spent managing hardware. This shift takes a lot of the pressure off maintaining local servers, letting the team focus on projects that matter most instead of just keeping things running. Cloud tools also help ensure uptime and security, whether on-site or remote. We are working with both Azure and AWS to create landing zones to host these resources and the infrastructure needed to access them.

Along the way, RIC is investigating modern third-party identity providers (IdPs) to make logging in and managing user access simpler and more secure. Identity as security is our focus to ensure modern workloads are secure. For those leading IT, this means fewer headaches about password resets and security gaps. With these solutions, it's easier to keep sensitive data safe while making sure staff can get the resources they need without jumping through hoops.

Thank you for taking a few minutes (about 10 or so) to fill out this survey. Our goal is to use this information not just for feedback but to build a consistent performance baseline that we can track year-over-year. Your input will assist us to:

• Gather input on our performance
• Identify opportunities for improvement
• Track progress year-over-year
• Align services to district needs

We truly appreciate your insights and feedback.

Summer is a critical window to prepare systems, devices, and infrastructure for the upcoming school year. Use this checklist to guide your district’s work in partnership with the Monroe RIC.

☐ Review network performance and capacity (bandwidth, Wi-Fi coverage)

☐ Coordinate infrastructure upgrades or maintenance with RIC teams
☐ Verify data center, backups, and system redundancy are functioning properly
☐ Test building connectivity, including classrooms and shared spaces
☐ Confirm power protection, HVAC, and physical security of network environments

☐ Conduct a full inventory of devices and technology assets

☐ Identify and repair or replace damaged or aging devices

☐ Update asset tags and tracking systems

☐ Prepare and stage devices for student and staff deployment

☐ Update operating systems, software, and learning platforms

☐ Validate integrations (e.g., SIS, payroll, instructional systems)

☐ Review user accounts, permissions, and roles

☐ Clean up inactive accounts and outdated data

☐ Test critical systems before staff return

☐ Conduct a cybersecurity review to identify vulnerabilities

☐ Apply patches, antivirus updates, and firewall configurations

☐ Verify backups and disaster recovery processes

☐ Review data privacy and security protocols across systems

☐ Collaborate with RIC teams on security best practices and monitoring

☐ Review technology goals and priorities for the upcoming year

☐ Participate in RIC/district planning meetings and collaboration opportunities

☐ Develop or refine long-term technology plans and budgets

☐ Share district needs early to ensure coordinated support

Summer is more than maintenance, it’s an opportunity to strengthen systems, improve services, and plan for future success. With the support of Monroe RIC, districts can ensure a smooth, secure, and confident start to the school year.

Please note that our Help Desk number has been updated:

585-387-3809

Click HERE to create an IT Help Ticket and we will help you as quickly as possible. Please include as many specifics as you can, including:

• Full name/email of user(s)
• The issue that is occurring
• Any screenshots are fantastic
• Details are key! Any and all information helps!

* PLEASE NOTE: No DPO Cohort Meetings are scheduled for July or August *

• Oct. 13/14
• Nov. 17/18
• Dec. 8/9
• Jan 12/13
• Feb. 9/10
• March 9/10
• April 13/14
• May 11/12

We look forward to seeing you there!

Tuesday, 1/5/2027 2:00-3:30 pm [15 Linden Park, Room 1A-1B]

Tuesday, 3/30/2027 2:00-3:30 pm [3599 Big Ridge Road, Spencerport, NY, USA]

Tuesday, 6/8/2027 2:00-3:30 pm [15 Linden Park, Room 1A-1B]

Monday, November 16, 2026 @ 15 Linden Park

More information coming soon!

Please share with your team our next Systems Admin Meeting where we will discuss Server Hosting Updates, DHCP & DNS Updates, and have an Open Forum for Summer Projects & Current Challenges.