Parents of highschoolers need to give their transcripts a second look ? or maybe a third.
Howard County schools spent $570,000 on software only to discover glitches that left many transcripts with missing or inaccurate grades.
“Community service hours disappear at the program?s whim, third quarter report cards are late, and final grades will not be sent to (school) guidance (counselors) until May 31, which is not the normal modus operandi,” Mary Jane Barbato-Grauso, PTA council president, told the school board Thursday.
School registrars, such as Estelle King at Howard High School, grapple with the Chancery Student Management System.
“It was supposed to do all of these wonderful things, and it hasn?t worked out,” she said.
But Superintendent Sydney Cousin said, “We?ll make sure that kids have correct transcripts and that the report cards are given out in a timely manner.”
Andrea Carson, the company?s marketing director, said any new system is bound to have kinks.
Since last July when it was installed, the school system has had problems with the Chancery Student Management System, which tracks data such as schedules, attendance and grades.
Chancery has suggested that school officials upgrade the computer hardware and receive adequate training on the new system.
“They might have been used to doing things based on the old way,” Carson said.
The school system has used the company for more than 20 years for other school software programs and has paid an annual $80,000 maintenance fee for those programs, said Robert Glascock, assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction.
Howard County is the company?s only Maryland client, said Carson. The company has offices in Lynwood, Wash., and Canada and serves more than 200 school districts nationwide.
