Don Tufano, former Riverside School District 96 director of technology and innovation, has died. 

According to the DuPage County coroner’s office, Tufano, 61, died in a car accident in Naperville on Saturday. Cause of death is pending due to autopsy and toxicology results. 

Tufano started in District 96 in June 2014 and retired in June 2025. Molly Marquardt succeeded Tufano in his role after he retired. 

“Don will be well remembered for his contributions to District 96,” Supt. Martha Ryan-Toye said Monday. “He was responsible for early development of our 1:1 technology program. Don created and supported a strong infrastructure for technology. 

“Personally, Don had a great sense of humor. He was very funny and often kept our leadership team laughing and looking at the bright side in many situations.” 

Board of education members David Barsotti and Dan Hunt agreed with that assessment. The pair were members of a technology steering committee that Tufano led early in his tenure. 

“He was a standup guy,” Barsotti said. “He always wanted to do what was right for the district. He was somebody I could always trust – if he said he was going to do something, he did it. He looked at the nuance and did what needed to be done.” 

Hunt said that many of Tufano’s innovations and implementations have stood the test of time. 

The state of technology in the district was much different in 2014, he said, “and Don really latched onto that right away and made progress.” 

Hunt said Tufano was responsible for the district-wide shift to Chromebooks versus Macbooks that had been in use, which resulted in cost savings for the district. 

He also moved the district to voice over Internet protocol (VOIP) systems, shifted technology infrastructure from the district offices into the cloud, and focused on technology redundancy. 

Added Barsotti, “Technology is ever evolving, and he put in place a process by which the district had to evaluate any software being put in the classroom. Before I even came onto the board, there wasn’t really a process. Teachers would sign up for software and not look at the user agreement.” 

Ryan-Toye said that district “will join the celebration of life planned by his family.” 

“It’s a shame,” Hunt added. “Especially such a hard worker, he deserved a long retirement. It’s a loss to the community.”