A Towson-based company is expanding its reach by signing a referral deal with an Ohio firm in a move it hopes will increase its bottom line.
Spectrum K12 School Solutions Inc., a venture-funded private company with about 200 employees, signed the lead referral agreement with Software Answers Inc., an Akron, Ohio-based firm that helps school districts track and report student progress using Web-based software.
“It?s a revenue-driving opportunity for us,” said Scott Cary, Spectrum?s vice president of marketing. “And we have the chance to have our product exposed to school districts where we otherwise might not be.”
Spectrum, a software seller that specializes in helping school districts meet compliance requirements for special education students, has about 400 clients nationwide, Cary said.
“We manage the special education process,” he said.
The Baltimore City Public School System was Spectrum?s first public school client in 1996 and continues to use the company?s product to create individual education plans for its special education students.
Under federal legislation originally approved in 1975, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act requires public school districts to offer free education to children with disabilities and special needs, according to the National Education Association. Today, about 6 million students witha wide range of disabling conditions are being served in schools throughout the country. Congress reauthorized the IDEA in 2004, the NEA said.
“There are huge compliance issues with special education,” Cary said.
Spectrum?s software allows educators to streamline compliance requirements and ensures that proper documentation is recorded for each student by automating what was once a paper-based system to a computer-based one.
After a database is created for each special needs student, Spectrum?s software allows teachers to access the proper forms that must be filed to meet federal requirements. The software also can schedule required meetings between teachers and parents as far as a year in advance, Cary said.
The NEA reports that the current average cost of educating students is about $7,552 each per year. The average cost for special education students is $16,921 each.
The company was founded in 1996, and about a hundred of Spectrum?s employees work in Towson. The other hundred are spread out across the country in sales and professional services offices. While declining to give exact figures for the private company, Cary said Spectrum?s annual revenue ranges from $10 million to $50 million.
