Errors in scheduling and grading in Howard?s public schools prompted the school board to seek proposals for new computer software to manage student data.
“We need to find out if there is a product that will work for us, and if not, what doesn?t exist that we need,” board member Diane Mikulis said.
Proposals are expected to start arriving by the end of July, with a new system to be selected by September.
The school system wants software that can manage student data for elementary, middle and high school levels but provide different functions for high schools, such as storing student transcripts, Mikulis said.
The school system?s Office of Information Technology has been looking for a new system since January that can manage attendance, enrollment, grading and scheduling.
If no product can do that effectively, the technology office will have to customize software, said Jose Stevenson, the school system?s information technology director.
Howard County schools use Pearson Education?s Student Management System and MacSchool software for enrollment, attendance and scheduling. Grading and reporting are managed by locally developed software.
But MacSchool is now outdated, and a Pearson Education software called Chancery Student Management System has caused recurring problems for high schoolers such as late report cards, delayed schedules and incorrect grade point averages.
The Chancery system “wasn?t doing what is was supposed to do. It was Web-based, slow and very cumbersome,” Mikulis said.
Board member Patricia Gordon said the new system should have more longevity and flexibility to meet the schools? needs.
The Office of Information Technology has evaluated the system used by Baltimore County public schools and hired a systems architect who has experience with the needs of large school systems.
“We hope to get the system back up and running as soon as possible,” Stevenson said.
The new system will be introduced in a “staggered rollout” beginning with elementary schools and phased into the more challenging needs of high schools, he said.
