Tech Response

CHANGE IS GOOD — USUALLY. BUT unless you and your district do your homework before you invest in and implement a new student management system, it can be a painful or even catastrophic experience. Selecting an SMS can be one of the most important decisions a school district makes, and the No Child Left Behind Act makes it even more crucial.

The first thing a school district selection committee must do is determine what’s important. What do you wish to accomplish with the new system? Are the basics all you need? Do you require integration with your financial system? How about grades and outside access? Food service?

Cost is always an issue, but don’t allow it to become the only issue. Some reliable, inexpensive solutions are out there, but the cost generally goes up as the level of integration and interoperability goes up. One approach is to pick a modular system that allows your district to add functionality as the budget increases, while still providing the necessary level of integration.

In 1997, Michigan’s Cheboygan Area Schools had an aging DOS-based SMS. At that time, there were about 2,500 students in four elementary schools, a junior and a senior high school, an alternative education center and administrative offices — all at different locations in the 175-square-mile district. Each building was a separate entity, with no connectivity or interaction with the others, so processing any task was slow.

The old SMS handled scheduling, demographics, grading and attendance — and nothing else. However, at the time, the district was upgrading and beginning a building project that involved connecting the seven buildings via fiber-optic cables and adding technology throughout them. It was the perfect time for the district to consider changing to a new SMS.

The first step was to organize a committee of key users and administrators (a principal, the curriculum director, three secretaries, two teachers and the technology director) who could create a wish list of wants and needs and make a valid assessment of current usage. These individuals could see beyond their current duties and envision where the district should be headed.

Because the buildings would be connected, the committee chose a common database to allow demographic information to be family-based — with students and their siblings linked via parent contact information — rather than duplicated in each school. It would also allow student information to flow seamlessly from the lower elementary to the upper elementary, to the middle school and then to the high school, as students progressed through their educational careers.

A GOOD MARRIAGE

In 1998, after much consideration and discussion, the Cheboygan school district selected a basic student management system, with health records and discipline modules added.

The system was expanded gradually, and today the SMS integrates scheduling, grading, attendance, health records and alerts, academic/athletic eligibility, activities, special education, state reporting, an integrated electronic grade book, food service and a Web-based family access module. The financial software is separate.

District administrators and staff say this SMS is a good marriage between the school district’s data-processing needs and the software’s abilities, and they believe the system is working well for the Cheboygan schools.

A new student management system is a tremendous investment in any school district’s future. When it’s researched and chosen properly, such a system can provide positive changes that can enhance and simplify your school district’s operations.