South Sioux City, Neb. (KTIV) – South Sioux City School District’s IT Department had to adjust fast when the pandemic changed how kids learn.

“I don’t really have a way to quantify it, but it’s a lot more work,” said Drew Stansberry, technology coordinator at the South Sioux City Community School District.

Since the pandemic hit, the department said workers have been putting in a lot more work than usual to keep things up and running for students and teachers remotely.

“Every day I hit the ground running and I run until 5:30 at night and then you get home and your phone is still going off,” said Phil Wieseler, help desk manager.

South Sioux’s IT Department started early this summer by ordering devices ahead of schedule and handing them out to students through a drive-thru pick up.

With the school year now underway, the biggest struggles are not being able to troubleshoot device problems in person, causing student frustrations.

“I think the biggest frustration is if something goes down, they want to fix it at home but they have to bring it in to get it repaired and resolved,” said Wieseler.

For both students and teachers, it’s learning the new apps.

“Shifting to things like Zoom and Google Classroom, using different features to record the lessons, those kinds of things,” said Stansberry.

Wieseler and the rest of the department are under stress, but so are students and teachers. He said they do their best to troubleshoot and resolve issues fast.

“Just be patient and smile. I guess they can’t see that but you try with your eyes,” said Wieseler.

Overall, the department said the tech side of learning has gone well during the new normal of COVID-19.