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August 18, 2004

Elite company: Two school districts listed among the country's smartest firms

Can it be? Two K-12 public school districts listed among the country's most "agile" companies, local governments, and organizations? CIO magazine, a publication aimed at chief information officers and top technology leaders, has announced its annual CIO 100 awards. Winners this year include Fairfax County Public Schools in Virginia, and Ventura Unified School District in California. The CIO 100 has a different theme each year, and this year it is agility. The group this year is honored for capacity to react to "rapidly changing situations and environments while positively contributing to their own organization's development of new growth opportunities," the magazine reports. "The CIO 100 recipients represent the highest standards of competence, creativity, leadership and accomplishment in the information technology (IT) field."

The two K-12 school districts join these and other high-powered companies on the list: NBC, Northrup Grumman, Marriott International, Hewlett-Packard Development Company ... Get the picture? "This district has made a huge commitment to making technology work for students and teachers and parents, from distance learning for students to web access to test data for teachers to e-mail emergency communications and lunch menus online for parents," Fairfax County Public Schools superintendent Jack Dale tells BoardBuzz. "Our school board has even made their meetings paperless. These connections have paid off handsomely for all of us, and our students are practicing 21st century skills." Fairfax County is also regularly honored for its financial reporting.

Posted August 18, 2004 12:00 AM