It’s February. The semester is in full swing. Teachers are lesson planning, administrators are juggling schedules, and students are relying on technology more than ever.
So let’s talk about relationships! Specifically, your school’s relationship with IT.
Have you ever had an IT provider that felt like a bad date?
You call for help and hear nothing.
The “fix” works for a day and then the same problem comes back.
You start adjusting your school’s operations just to avoid dealing with tech issues.
If you have, you’re not alone. Many schools quietly live with this every day.
Because a lot of schools are stuck in the IT version of a bad relationship:
They keep hoping it will get better.
They make excuses because the provider is “cheap.”
They stop calling because they don’t trust the response anymore.
And like most bad relationships, it didn’t start this way.
The Honeymoon Phase
At first, everything worked.
Devices were set up. Wi-Fi seemed fine. Tickets were answered quickly.
Then the school grew.
More students. More devices. More cloud apps. More compliance requirements. More cybersecurity threats.
Suddenly, the same problems keep happening. Responses slow down. You hear, “We’ll take a look when we can.”
So schools do what they must do to survive, they work around broken systems.
That’s not partnership. That’s damage control.
The Voicemail Black Hole
You submit a ticket.
You wait.
Teachers are stuck. Instruction slows. Testing is disrupted. Administrators are fielding complaints.
Meanwhile, staff are being paid but can’t do their jobs because IT support isn’t responding.
That’s not support. That’s silence.
Healthy IT relationships acknowledge issues quickly, triage them properly, and often prevent them entirely through monitoring and planning.
The Arrogance Problem
Eventually, someone responds and acts like the school should be grateful.
“You wouldn’t understand.”
“That’s just how it works.”
“You should have told us sooner.”
A good IT partner doesn’t make educators feel small for needing help. They make schools feel supported.
Technology in education should be boringly reliable, not a daily test of patience.
The Workaround Trap
This is when things quietly get dangerous.
Teachers stop reporting issues.
Staff save files locally.
Passwords get shared.
Random tools are purchased just to get through the day.
Not because people want to break rules… but because they want to teach and serve students without waiting days for help.
Workarounds create security risks, compliance issues, and operational chaos that only show up later…often at the worst possible time.
Why IT Relationships Go Bad in Schools
Most school IT relationships fail for one reason: they stay reactive.
Something breaks. Someone calls. It gets patched. Everyone moves on.
Meanwhile, schools continue to evolve. And the IT relationship that worked five years ago doesn’t survive today’s environment.
A true IT partner doesn’t just fix problems. They prevent them. They plan for growth, security, and operational stability.
What a Healthy IT Relationship Feels Like
No drama. No constant fires.
Systems work during testing windows.
Wi-Fi supports instruction without complaints.
Teachers don’t dread updates.
Data is secure and compliant.
Growth doesn’t break everything.
The real sign of a healthy IT relationship?
You don’t think about IT most days, because it just works.
The Big Question
If your IT provider were a person, would you keep seeing them?
If you’ve normalized bad tech behavior, your school is paying for it in stress, lost instructional time, and risk.
If your school is already in a strong place, great.
If not, it may be time for a better relationship.
