Sometimes the best approach to dealing with the biggest problems involves taking a deep breath and diving in headfirst.

That’s the way it was facing the coronavirus pandemic, says Peter Cevenini, CTO at Montgomery County Public Schools in Maryland.

“The situation evolved so fast,” he says, “everything we did kind of happened simultaneously.”

As circumstances quickly changed and schools began implementing remote instruction earlier this year, IT teams and other district leaders had to do triage on their virtual learning programs to address technical issues, internet access disparities and other challenges that popped up. That experience required a level of problem-solving that will inform how K–12 districts implement remote learning in the future.

“It’s the same in almost any district,” Cevenini says, “but we have a lot of students who don’t have access to digital technology at home. I think the difference in our case had mostly to do with our size.”