Below you will find a Technology Department structure for mid-sized schools. It should be rather easy to add or subtract from the model for the size department you have. The salary scales are quite accurate for most parts of Texas, except the large metropolitan areas. Once again, you can just add to the values as needed. In the far rural areas I would caution against going lower than these salaries. If you review the job descriptions you will see that It is rare to find these qualifications in a very rural area. Unless you wish your personnel to be very unsatisfied or to leave, I encourage you to consider this salary scale as a minimum. 
To see a detailed job description click on the job title. You will find that I put a serious value on attaining industry certifications. During my years in Technology I have seen individuals who did not have certifications and were still qualified. However, I observed many more who claimed knowledge that was not there. If none of the upper level management is experienced in technical matters, how can you judge whether you are hearing excuses and cover-ups or the truth when disaster happens. With certifications you are assured of a measured level of competence. Remember, the certifications must be on the technology you have or the individual will need training.

There is a catch to hiring a certified technician, you must keep their certifications current. This requires allocating funds for training and testing. If you feel that no certified technicians are available in your area, require training and certification within a specific time period. Even using free Open Source software requires your technicians to learn technology at a fast pace. An industry standard Linux course will show you their abilities to adapt to new software changes. If you are going to require a lot of on the job education, make sure you have them set aside a specific amount of time each week for practicing off-line, it will be a valuable investment.

District Computer Specialist District Computer Technician Campus Technology Assistant District Technology Assistant District Network Engineer District Network Specialist District Network Administrator 1 District Network Administrator 2 District Network Assistant District Technology Secretary District Technology Trainer District Technology Administrative Assistant

When you run your mouse over the District Network Administrator you find two links. More and more departments are using multiple platforms to run their network on. You may need a third that works with Linux. In a very large department, this is where you would place your e-mail administrator or other single specialist position.

Under the District Technology Assistant you will also find two links. Many districts prefer to have technicians assigned to a principal or a campus. For that setup I have the Campus Technology Assistant. For the Technology Trainer I refer you to your teacher pay scale. I recommend that these individuals receive an additional stipend beyond their daily pay. This stipend is intended to address two areas. First, an additional amount for the greater depth of knowledge and training they are required to have. Second, an additional amount to cover any nights, weekends, or staff development days that they are required to train on. Remember, if they are training others, they must receive their own staff development hours at some other time.
Exempt vs Non-Exempt

This is now a critical area. On August 23, 2004 the Federal Government starting enforcing their new "interpretations" of the labor law. For technology departments a major change took place, one that many locations have not adjusted for yet, in defining most technicians as non-exempt positions. A computer worker or a computer repair person is now non-exempt. This means they must be paid over-time and punch a clock. You must track their hours and pay them on a per hour scale. Even if they have a salary, they can not work extra without extra pay. So be very careful. These employees can go back years to collect over-time, all the way to August 23, 2004.

To find network administrators you must go to the Federal regulations in the administrative section. There you will find database administrators and others.

In my job description, the District Administrative Assistant is identified as a non-exempt position. It is possible to change this to exempt by adjusting the amount of supervision the position does of the office staff. This could be very important to do, if you truly wish this person to be on the front lines for writing grants. The deadlines involved are almost impossible without some overtime. Make sure that you review the Federal regulations and run this past your Human Resources person, if you make the change.