WESTBROOK – When Tyler Dunphy became the Westbrook School District’s new information technology manager in 2000, he found a system badly in need of an upgrade.

The idea of teachers posting grades on the Internet, integrated interactive environments and other high-tech staples of a modern classroom simply did not exist back then, and any that did were not present in Westbrook.

Now, as Dunphy, 36, prepares to depart his position on April 15 for a new job, he said he hopes he is leaving behind technology that will serve the district, and the city, well into the 21st century.

“I hope that we have built and I’m currently leaving a system that does that for them,” he said.

Upon arriving and assessing the situation 11 years ago, after four years in the U.S. Army, Dunphy immediately saw that he had his work cut out for him. The district had very few servers to store and move information around, and not everyone had access to them. The schools, from a technology standpoint, were islands unto themselves, with no way to connect them together, he said. There were 10 – yes, only 10 – email accounts serving the entire faculty, staff and administration.

Some of the computers he found staff working on included Apple IIes, complete with drives that ran on those old-fashioned floppy disks. CD-ROM drives were still a bit of a novelty, and tiny plug-in “thumb” drives were still science fiction.

“It was interesting,” he said.

Dunphy fixed it with one upgrade at a time – getting computers and printers into every classroom, email accounts for the entire staff, and, eventually, connecting teachers in a way that allows them to post grades online right from the classroom.

Over the years, the city of Westbrook has worked toward consolidating school and city administrative positions, and in 2004 Dunphy was asked to take on the city’s IT needs, in addition to his work at the district. Dunphy said the city was in better shape than the school district was, though the system crashed routinely, mainly because of home-made servers made out of desktop computers that had been attached together.

Today, Dunphy said, the city’s system runs much more smoothly. In addition, many city departments, such as public works, police and fire departments, have access to upgraded mobile technology. It allows employees to post reports from virtually anywhere.

“He’s been really crucial for both the city and school departments,” said City Administrator Jerre Bryant.

Dunphy said he enjoyed helping set up new systems in new buildings, such as the public safety complex. Dunphy said he particularly likes talking about the new middle school, which he called “a technology piece of art.”

That building, he said, not only includes interactive white boards and built-in projectors, but also the building’s designers wanted to make the technology a subtle addition to the overall structure, something Dunphy appreciated.

“I like technology to be part of the building without it being the focal point,” he said.

Dunphy, who lives in Standish, said he is planning to join a technology company in Portland, which he declined to name, as the vice president of technology operations. Bryant said other staff members will fill the void temporarily while the city seeks out the best successor.

“We’re evaluating our approach to move forward,” he said. “He’s going to leave very, very, very big shoes to fill, “ he said.

Interim Superintendent Marc Gousse agreed that finding a successor for Dunphy is going to be tough.

“You can never replace a Tyler Dunphy,” he said.

Tyler Dunphy stands next to some of the server equipment he helped bring to the Westbrook School District during the past 11 years. Dunphy will be leaving his technology position for the city and school district next month. Staff photo by Sean Murphy