By JOYANNA LOVE/ Senior Staff Writer

Chilton County Schools technology coordinator Kim Arrington has received her Alabama Chief Technology Officer certification.

Arrington was one of 32 graduates of the inaugural class for this program. The certification program was a year-long course developed by the Alabama Educational Technology Association.

“Since the certification was the first program of its kind, I wanted to be a part of it to develop leadership and expertise in the area of educational technology. Successful CTOs are competent in both the Education and IT fields. However, most of us only have a background in one or the other,” Arrington said. “Since my background was in Education, I felt the certification would strengthen my skills in both areas. I was excited to be accepted as a member of the first cohort to complete the certification.”

She said completing the certification has made her a “more effective technology leader for the district.”
Courses in the program covered strengthened Management, Ethics and Policies, Finance and Budgeting, in addition to Instructional Technology.
“I enjoyed networking with people from other districts and learning how others handle the obstacles we face with educational technology,” Arrington said.

She said the courses in IT and Finance and Budgeting were challenging.

Candidates for the program were required to have several years of experience in the field.

“Our program is similar in structure and complexity to that of the school Chief Financial Officer

Program developed by the Alabama School Business Officers organization,” said Kelli Lane,

the Association’s Vice-President for Professional Learning, in a press release.  “Unlike school system finance directors, who nearly all have degrees in accounting, school system technology directors come from several different backgrounds. Some have teaching and administrative certifications, some have IT and technical backgrounds, and others have business degrees or experience. Our program was designed knowing this. It ensures school systems that no matter what area of expertise their technology director came with, they will graduate from the CTO program with a good command of all the different areas it takes to do the job well.”