McDonald named new FCPS technology director

Proactive, not reactive, is the approach Louis McDonald hopes to take as the new director of technology services for Fauquier County Public Schools.

McDonald, whose hiring was approved earlier this month, started his new position, which had been vacant for six months, on Jan. 23.

According to Superintendent of Schools Jonathan Louis, McDonald is exactly who they’ve been searching for.

“He was our unanimous selection,” Lewis said.

The selection committee looked for hands-on technical experience, as well as excellent management skills.

“We liked his leadership style,” Lewis said. “He seems like a consensus builder, someone who will bring members of the staff together.”

McDonald comes to Fauquier after 10 years at the Center for Innovative Technology [CIT], where he served as the chief information and chief technology officer for the state-chartered non-profit.

While at CIT, McDonald managed the company’s technology infrastructure and strategic planning and also provided subject matter expertise on state and federal projects

Building on a 25-year career, in which his responsibilities have ranged from computer programming and software development to information systems management, McDonald’s decision to apply in Fauquier reflects a long-time desire to manage technology in new ways.

“I love to build things that people use, and when you get into the internal technology of a company, you are actually constantly doing something people are using,” he said.

“They don’t always like what you’re doing, but for the most part, they’re always looking for you to solve their problems and find something that will make their job better,” he said.

The Warrenton resident, who moved to Virginia in 1992, holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science from California State Polytechnic University, and master’s degrees in computer science from the University of Southern California, and in management and information systems from George Washington University.

Admittedly a “Mac person,” McDonald found his calling through some programming work a cousin asked him to do in high school.

“I’d never done any programming...I didn’t even own a computer,” he said, of the opportunity, which included use of an Apple II computer. “I saw what technology could do, and I just became enamored with it.”

To McDonald, technology is a tool for success.

“Not all solutions are technology,” he said. “In the case of schools, the educators are the ones that are really teaching; technology is just the aid to help them and enhance the experience.”

In his first 100 days on the job, McDonald hopes to “become familiar with the staff and the projects they have in place, understand the priorities and how that plays into the scope of things, and look for areas that could use improvement” based on his experience.

He also wants to develop a long-term vision of where technology is headed in the school division.

As for areas of weakness, Lewis would like to see McDonald address technology at the administration level.

“We’ve got a very strong instructional technology plan, but in other parts of the organization, such as human resources, administration, and student services, we haven’t made the same progress. We’re hoping he’ll be able to help us find the same kind of efficiencies of operation with technology [there],” Lewis said.

McDonald also said he intends to look into technology security, which he called “the Achilles heel” of most organizations.

Given the discovery last June of pornographic materials on the work computer of former assistant principal Josh Myers, McDonald said investigating the ability to monitor computer use outside school networks is also “on the table.”

“There’s a need for that, but whether or not it’s able to be facilitated today is not clear,” he said.

The type of monitoring in question would need to provide analysis as an application running in the background regardless of a machine’s location.

“Based on applications I’ve seen in my other jobs, there are products out there that could potentially lead to that kind of ability,” he said, noting that market research will be necessary to determine whether a solution exists.

“It’s a very precarious position when you allow people to take work equipment home,” he said.

According to McDonald, even finding a solution to track web browsing wouldn’t stop someone from loading a USB drive full of pornography onto their computer.

“It’s a fine line between what risk you’re willing to accept to allow them to have the flexibility to do their job,” he said.

“Security is going to be the crux of everything for a while,” he said. “Anytime you have an event that exposes a potential fault area, it raises everything to a level that [shows you] it needs to be fixed.”

McDonald and his wife Sherry live in Warrenton Lakes.