The real-world landscape of distributed tech infrastructure in busy, budget-constrained K–12 environments is this: housing servers, networking gear and UPS equipment in former janitor closets, basement utility rooms and even kitchen spaces. Humidity, dust control and power-related downtime events are widespread problems. This facility design issue is compounding power infrastructure maintenance challenges. This report analyzes survey responses from 152 IT professionals in K–12 districts to understand how they manage power infrastructure across their buildings. Highlights include: What they face and why, even though they think they are using the right management tools, there’s room for improvement. A data-driven guide to elevating power management in educational environments that are facing significant changes as they integrate AI into their IT infrastructures. Three practical steps resource-constrained districts can take towards a more reliable IT infrastructure.
