SYSTEM

It appears there are two major software projects that took place over the summer (or one). The NASD is shutting down the Sapphire Web Portal and replacing it with the PowerSchool Parent Portal and the former scheduling software has apparently been replaced by a new system. Both would have had to have been significant IT projects.

Student Portal

I posted the other day about the school announcement with the subject, “NASD No Longer Using Sapphire Parent Web Portal”. The announcement is a single sentence, “The Nazareth Area School District will be providing more information shortly on the new PowerSchool Parent Web Portal.”

I did find this within a page for the Department of Educational Technology “New Parent Web Portal Information: The NASD will no longer be using the Sapphire Parent Web Portal. The district is in the process of moving to a new Parent Web Portal through PowerSchool, but this will not be open for parents AT LEAST through the first trimester. Depending on implementation, it may be longer. The district will be providing more information shortly.”

I’d imagine, like any enterprise system, these are costly. There is the base cost, licensing, training, installation, maintenance, and then the time consumed by many individuals throughout the process. To switch, there are added costs in determining how to transition from the old to the new and how to convert the data. Anyone who has worked with databases of any size, can appreciate the challenges (and costs) of converting data from one system to another. Significant testing must take place to ensure the integrity of the data once converted.

On the District web site’s IT Infrastructure page, PowerSchool is listed as the Student Information System. PowerSchool has been in existence for twelve years (visit the corporate site here). The information I found on the system speaks highly of it. I found little related to purchase cost or implementation, but annual hosting and maintenance is based on number of students. The cost per student (depending on contract – some were statewide contracts vs. individual school systems) ranged from $12 - $28 per student per year, training workshops must be purchased, and there are customization costs billed at an hourly rate.

Sapphire appears to be the product of a Lehigh Valley based company (K12 Systems in Allentown).

Considering the age of our existing system, one would think both had been considered in the initial review. Someone opted against recommending it then, and someone else (or the same someone) has now decided after investing time and money in one system to switch to another.

Scheduling Software

I’ve received notes from a few readers who indicated a change in Scheduling Software resulted in more than a few problems with student schedules. From these parents I heard that students’ schedules had classes that were incorrect or didn't exist, some students were in the system more than one time resulting in their being scheduled at two classes at the same time, etc.

Again, I have little information on this to date, but it appears to be a new system that was pushed to be used for this school year and it had more than its share of initial bugs. The cost to fix these bugs probably isn't considered, but the disruption to students, teachers, administrators, and parents as a result is huge. Have you had any issues with scheduling for your child or has it been more isolated (and I just got the notes from a few who were impacted)?