Unit 5 Technology Staff

Loren Baele is the Director of Technology for Unit 5 Schools. His duties include enforcement of department policies and procedures, the evaluation of staff members, planning and administration of technological needs and district technology plan development. The director works closely with building principals and fellow directors to assess current building needs with regard to instructional development and technology maintenance. Mr. Baele directly reports to the Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction and works closely with the Superintendent as well as the Assistant Superintendents, CFO and fellow Director’s on district initiatives.

The Data Management Specialist, Chris Kozik is responsible for the integrity, functionality, and support of both the Financial and the Student Skyward databases. Additional responsibilities include training building personnel on the use of the data systems and coordinating data changes. The Administrator also monitors state and federal data submissions to insure compliance.

Michael Caldwell is the Lead Technical Support Specialist for Unit 5 School District. He is responsible for tracking all technology hardware within the district. He is also in charge of all hardware requests. Additionally he oversees maintaining and monitoring all district laser printers as well as the administration, maintenance, and upgrades of the Macintosh Computers within the district. Additional responsibilities include maintaining and monitoring the network and managing the web content filter for the district.

Brian Gerike is the Technology Integration Specialist. He is the Windows domain administrator and responsible for Windows server maintenance, as well as Active Directory, SharePoint, Terminal Services, and Exchange servers. He is also in charge of all software requests, software package distribution and reporting, group policy administration, software inventory and license coordination for the district. Additionally, he is the Storage Area Network (SAN) coordinator for Unit 5.

Rita Gyires is responsible for developing and administering the Professional Development Academy technology classes, working with IMC specialists, and in organizing technology related events and training sessions outside of the PDA.

The Web Coordinator is David Harris. He oversees the Unit 5 website daily updates, establishing sub-webs, and intranet access as well as PDA instruction in building web sites. He is also responsible for in-house web-based application development as well as supervision and administration of the Unit 5 School Webmaster Program. Additionally, he manages the Skyward Family Access and Employee Access web-based programs.

The Technology Support Specialists are responsible for the in-building support of all staff computing systems. Each specialist is responsible for supporting a set number of school buildings on a regular schedule, as well as providing spot help, system build out and deployment of PC systems, and other technical duties Please see the Technician Schedule for a list of the buildings they are responsible for and on what day(s) they are at a given facility. The Technology Support Specialists are Debbie Bennett, Matt Meins, David Shuck, and Jason Mays

Melissa Rinehart is the Technology Support Specialist – Helpdesk. As the first level of IT support, she provides technology information and assistance through email and phone communication. She is responsible for creating helpdesk tickets for the various questions, problems and issues that arise, escalating those that require additional support to the appropriate IT team member. She also monitors the Helpdesk System, providing follow up when needed.