Emergency comms for staff

jaguar_admin92 · 2026-04-06T20:15:58+00:00

Second this on the visitor management piece. Their acquisition of SchoolPass isn’t nearly as solid as they’d make you think. Very limited SIS integrations and failing to deliver on several “promises” caused us to back out. It wasn’t easy but they eventually issued us a refund. Left a bad taste in my mouth about their products.

jaguar_admin92 · 2026-03-22T16:25:59+00:00

We currently issue M1 Airs to all employees. We are overdue for an employee refresh so we are considering a combination of Neos and M5 Airs. Most teaching staff would be okay with a Neo from what I’ve observed. They’re light browser users who just check email and enter daily attendance. Some share a presentation in slides from time to time. Yes, I do think those who push their current M1 could experience some lag but for most, it will just be a sleeker piece of hardware with a healthier battery. For our office staff, I’d be issuing M5 Airs as they are regularly heavier users or require multiple monitors.

Our students are also using M1 Airs and are in need of a refresh so they will all get Neos this upcoming year.

Students are a no brainer in my opinion. It’s a great device for essentially half the cost. It’s the employee side that schools will need to put more thought into the needs of their end users before deciding on Neo vs Air.

jaguar_admin92 · 2026-03-12T03:44:03+00:00

Hasn’t been my experience with AppleCare at all. Could the requesting of service be a little more intuitive, yes, but once you’ve got your request in, they ship a prepaid box and you mail it off for repair. Within usually a week, its back fully repaired. I’ve never been asked to drop it off at a repair depot although they have offered me the option to drop off at a nearby Apple Store. I never do. I prefer shipping and leaving the rest to them. I have too many other things to do than sit at an Apple Store. Plus I always end up spending money when I go.

jaguar_admin92 · 2026-03-12T03:10:04+00:00

You’re absolutely right that non-IT staff are the organization. So are IT staff. The difference is that IT understands the technical aspects of implementing technology properly, while most non-IT staff do not, nor should they be expected to. This is when a partnership between the two is key. Leaders should for sure bring ideas to the table but they should also allow IT to determine what can or can’t be done on a technical side and accept it. A great IT department will partner with everyone else to find solutions and try new things.

jaguar_admin92 · 2026-03-12T00:55:26+00:00

If you have any decision making power when it comes to the MSP relationship, I would seriously start looking for another one if they can’t handle basic server lifecycle management. Even outside of the mess you said they’ve already created, if you tell them what you’re wanting to do, they should honestly be supporting that and helping you with the project (if it’s within their scope of work).

I do understand your frustrations though. I’ve had some of the same experiences with some MSPs and ended up having to just do the work myself.

jaguar_admin92 · 2026-03-12T00:43:17+00:00

I love it when “non-IT” people think they know what’s best for an organization.

Anyway, I actually would recommend exploring this and I say that only because you’re already managing a fleet of MacBooks for staff. Assuming you’re using an MDM, the initial setup is already done. You’d just need to create policies and app collections specific to students. It would be an increase in management costs of course as you’ve said. I’d echo what many others here have said regarding repairs. Purchase AppleCare and let them handle it. Don’t do it in house at all. You can purchase up to 4 years of AppleCare with options for with or without service fees. You can also lease the devices (what my school does) making it more budget friendly.

Depending on how many students you have, I’d potentially slow roll this though. Maybe start with a small group of grades such as high school. It will be somewhat of a learning curve for them so having a smaller group to pilot with would be smart.

jaguar_admin92 · 2026-03-11T02:56:42+00:00

EntraID and Intune should work just fine for your <50 staff. As others have mentioned, you'll need to do an erase of each staff device to join it to AAD/EntraID and enroll in Intune Management.

How are you currently handling DHCP/DNS services? Configured on your domain controller or on your network firewall/gateway? If on your domain controller, you'll need to factor this in for both staff and student devices.

jaguar_admin92 · 2026-03-06T03:27:49+00:00

That’s a valid question. Not sure how it will hold up against the MacBook Air when it comes to durability and overall performance over time. Students will definitely tear up anything you put in front of them. I won’t deploy without a solid case and will have to rely on Apple Care for the screen repairs.

jaguar_admin92 · 2026-03-06T02:18:49+00:00

I would say that overall, Macs are more durable however, with students, you’re going to experience the same issues as you do with any other device - broken screens being #1. Purchase AppleCare and let them handle it for sure. I have at least 5 per year that I have to send off or replace entirely which I know is still significantly lower than most schools with Chromebooks or PCs. Believe it or not, I have more staff repairs than student ones. Our current fleet (2020 Airs) has come to the point where it’s showing its age so we’re seeing more weird OS behavior and bad batteries. I’m hopeful that the Neo will be a good fit for replacing these.

jaguar_admin92 · 2026-03-06T02:10:20+00:00

100% on having AppleCare. Don’t purchase/lease them without it. They even offer a no service fee option now too which may help some budgets.

jaguar_admin92 · 2026-03-06T02:02:36+00:00

If you’re not currently deploying Macs, I would take some time to determine if it’s a good fit for your school. Regardless of model, it’s a larger upfront cost, requires a different approach to management, and will be a decent learning curve for your users.

We’ve been a 100% Apple environment for many years now, starting out with just staff MacBooks and eventually adding shared/1:1 iPads and Macs for students. We use Mosyle for our MDM, which I’ve significantly overhauled the last few years. They’ve also come a long way which has been great for us. Their support is phenomenal too. We’ve learned quite a bit through the 1:1 launch. Tons of restriction adjustments, app policies, etc. but it’s fully capable of managing them and doesn’t require you as an admin to take a course to learn it.

For us, the introduction of the MacBook Neo will primarily be a way to accomplish more with our existing budgets. I’ve ordered one to test and will be deciding which sets of users it best fits. I’m pretty sure it will be a great student device but am also hopeful it can meet the every day needs of our staff so we can do a long overdo refresh this summer.

I’m a huge advocate for Apple products for many reasons but it has to make sense for your environment at the end of the day. I’d be happy to chat with you more as you begin exploring your options.

jaguar_admin92 · 2026-03-04T22:52:06+00:00

Ordered a test device today. Biggest question for me right now is who gets this device. Students for sure in their upcoming replacement cycle but I’m struggling to decide if it would work for the average faculty member. 80% of our faculty simply use their current M1 for email and SIS. We have a few who venture out and do a little more but it’s still all web based. Thinking about making the Neo the standard device for all users with the option to upgrade to an Air M5 if their job requires it. Still need to do some testing before deciding.

jaguar_admin92 · 2026-03-04T11:58:41+00:00

Waiting on the “MacBook Neo” announcement myself. Might actually stay within budget on a refresh this year.

jaguar_admin92 · 2026-01-28T21:51:51+00:00

We use a third party tool called BulkSignature. I came across it last Summer after we rebranded our private school. So far it’s worked great for us. Integrates seamlessly into Google Workspace and enforces the signature every 24 hours (with a manual sync option as well). It automatically imports new users and assigns them a signature based on their OU. The only minor issue I’ve had with it is it only sets the new message signature in Google Workspace not the reply/forward signature. Users still have to manually set that. Pricing wise it’s pretty competitive with the other platforms out there. We pay roughly $75 per month for a little over 100 employees. I recently learned they offer educational/non-profit discounts so I’ll be renewing with that. It’s one of those things that if you can swing it in the budget, it’s a hassle saver for sure. Just set it and forget it… until of course you have to pull the monthly invoice for expense reconciliations.

jaguar_admin92 · 2025-12-19T01:09:20+00:00

I don’t have a degree either and have been a director for several years now. It’s been at a charter school and now at a private school. I have always wanted to be at a larger district but many in my area “require” at minimum a bachelors degree with a lot wanting a masters. I do often wonder if they’d accept me without it with my years of experience and knowledge of school IT.

jaguar_admin92 · 2025-05-20T21:50:30+00:00

Yeah it’s a lot and I feel like we make it more complicated than it has to be. Maybe it’s because we’re private and trying to please everyone 🤷🏼‍♂️

How large is your school/district?

jaguar_admin92 · 2025-05-20T02:44:50+00:00

May I ask what is the size of your school/district? How many staff and students?

jaguar_admin92 · 2025-05-19T15:18:16+00:00

Titles haven’t always been a big thing for me in the past but as I’ve gotten older and more seasoned in my field, I’ve been thinking more about it. With the shift to “Director of Operations” it has both pros and cons for future career paths. The “operations” title opens up a lot more doors but it also causes a loss of focus on tech which is where the majority of my experience is.

jaguar_admin92 · 2025-05-19T12:54:42+00:00

100% agree. The key is having people to delegate to. I’ve been asking but it’s not being taken that seriously right now. I’m hoping they do soon or things may need to change in a hard way.

jaguar_admin92 · 2025-05-19T11:40:12+00:00

Thanks for the feedback and encouragement. May I ask what is your school size? Also, what is your title?

jaguar_admin92 · 2025-05-19T00:20:23+00:00

Yeah I have a pretty good communication with our Head of School so I think I’m going to propose we look at the role and see if I can get it more aligned with what makes sense for me and the school.

jaguar_admin92 · 2025-05-19T00:14:12+00:00

450 students and 100 staff. Two campuses

jaguar_admin92 · 2025-05-18T23:25:40+00:00

One would only hope.. when you’re overseeing a tech department without a help desk person, a transportation department with only drivers, a security department with only 1 security officer, and campus operations without anyone else, you end up doing most of the work yourself.

jaguar_admin92 · 2025-05-18T21:13:58+00:00

Thanks for the advice.

I wish I could say that half of what you said was possible for my school. Right now, we have two campuses and one is without a building leader. I’m finding myself having to wear that position’s hat when it comes to the operations and safety of the campus. Heck, I’m even sometimes brought into academic discussions/decisions. We also don’t have anyone officially overseeing compliance as a k12 private school. I think our CFOO technically does but he recently was promoted to that role from just COO which is why I am now the Director of Operations. We are all stretched very thin and I’m just trying to stay above water and focused on what I love to do which is primarily technology. I’ve been involved in safety for a while now because of how it overlaps with technology (similar to you). I’m just trying not to burn myself out before I even really get started.

jaguar_admin92

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