Case Study: Tucson Unified School District achieves digital transformation and 50% cost savings with Microsoft Azure

The Tucson Turnaround: Tucson Unified School District’s Digital Transformation

Tucson Unified School District, a large K–12 district serving 46,000 students, faced a 15‑year technology stagnation: crumbling infrastructure, inefficient core systems, constrained budgets, and uneven student access that limited teaching, administration, and equity. CTO G. Scott Morrison set out to create a stable, cost‑effective infrastructure that would give all students access to high‑quality tools and improve district operations.

TUSD moved key systems to Microsoft cloud and modern desktop platforms—Azure SQL Database, Intune, Office 365, and Windows 10—upgraded ERP and student information systems, adopted BYOD, and used teacher‑to‑teacher training to drive adoption. The changes halved technology spending, consolidated the district’s IT footprint, freed funds for classrooms, enabled data‑driven personalized learning (helping students with needs such as dyslexia), and fostered a collaborative cultural shift across staff and students.

Tucson Unified School District

G. Scott Morrison

Chief Technology Officer