The head of schools in Collier County wants more face-to-face interactions this year.

Teachers and kids are returning to the classrooms in Collier County. Dr. Leslie Ricciardelli spoke with Fox 4 senior reporter Kaitlin Knapp on prospective boundary changes and the urge to step back from excessive technology.

Ricciardelli is in her second year as the superintendent of Collier County Public Schools.

Ricciardelli wishes to avoid computers despite the prevalence of technology, according to a recent article by Kaitlin Knapp of Fox4.

“We’re in a very technologically advanced society right now, but we can’t just focus on technology,” she told stated. “We have to get away from technology and really get the kids back to face-to-face interactions.”

These exchanges are coming from professors. They want to hire teachers this year.

As of early August, the district had 79 available classroom positions. However, like with many things, money is an important consideration.

Bargaining has been going on for weeks, and Ricciardelli says a tax-neutral referendum that you will vote on is essential for the district.

“It’s critical because it allows us to take .35 mils from capital dollars and put them into operating dollars,” Ricciardelli pointed out.

Knapp questioned if the present compensation rate is sufficient for teachers to live in Collier County.

“You know, we did a survey in March because I really needed to know where we stand with this,” Ricciardelli added.

According to the report, 2,200 of the 3,500 employees own their own homes.

Ricciardelli adds that, while it demonstrates how long individuals have resided in Collier County, it is also expensive to live there.

The county is expanding rapidly, which is why the School Board is considering border modifications.

Proposals were rejected twice and will be considered again in September.

“I am all about transparency and we’re going to bring back the committee,” Ricciardelli announced. “See if there’s some rock we didn’t turn over, something we might have missed.”

Ricciardelli says she is looking forward to new state standards and exams, believing they would benefit pupils.

“The immediate gratification of these new assessments — we get the scores right away,” she said. “The kids know right away how did they do.”

They are also considering another component in the classroom.

“One of the things we’re focusing on very heavily this year is that in every single subject across all content areas, students will read, write, speak and listen across all content areas every day,” said to Ricciardelli.

This only touches the surface of what Ricciardelli claims the school district is doing to keep its “A” ranking.

“I think we just keep doing what we’ve been doing and really honing in and figuring out where do we have some blind spots or just some areas where we can continue to improve just like any other thing,” according to her.

This article originally appeared on FOX4.