The state’s Common Core Standards Initiative is bringing an influx of technology into classrooms statewide, and the Hart district hired a Santa Clarita Valley product to take on the new challenge locally, officials announced Wednesday.

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Jon Carrino, 38 of Palmdale, a Sierra Vista Junior High and Canyon High School grad, was named the district’s new director of technology at the William S. Hart Union High School District board meeting this week. His new post will take effect July 1.

“It’s really going to be key that we’re there and involved in the discussion as a support function for teachers and students,” Carrino said, discussing his new promotion Thursday. The Hart district oversees about 22,000 students in the Santa Clarita Valley‘s public junior highs and high schools.

Carrino has been with the district since the inception of the technology department in the Hart district, and has seen tremendous growth, he said.

“It’s kind of been amazing to watch, thinking back to the early days when our servers were PCs on a desk, we actually had them on a baker’s rack,” Carrino said, referring to an earlier generation of server technology.

“We’ve transformed the district into more of an a enterprise environment,” he said, with equipment comparable to any modern corporation.

While Carrino has been a part of a massive technological push that’s come with the increased Internet availability over the last 15 years, his focus going forward would be as support personnel for teachers, students and their classrooms, he said.

“Our focus needs to shift a little bit to include supporting the teachers and the students than it has in the past,” he said, referring to the implementation of Common Core and the infrastructure changes necessary.

One thing he’s really enjoyed about working in the educational technology industry over the last decade and a half has been the free exchange of ideas, he said.

“School districts love to talk to each other,” Carrino said. “In the school districts, everyone loves to share what they’ve done and what they’re doing.”

He described it as a crucial resource, “so you aren’t re-inventing the wheel,” when you try to solve a new issue, he said.

Carrino graduated from CSUN with a degree in information systems, and is planning to undergo a Certified Technology Officer program run by a statewide certification agency.

He lives with his wife, Mary, and his two sons, Cody and Timmy.

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