Month: July 2016

At its last meeting held earlier this week, the School Board approved PowerSchool as its new Student Information System (SIS) provider.  As portrayed in the above chart, PowerSchool was by far the most expensive of the six vendors that responded to the District’s solicitation for proposals. The staff report on the item offered no information as to why PowerSchool was recommended over the much more inexpensive options.

School Board Member Terry Ragins attributed the significant price difference to the value added of the alignment piece the PowerSchool system offered. Chief Technology Officer Gil Mara, who lists degrees in Biology and Education on LinkedIn, acknowledged he did not know much about the back end of the system. In that regard he stated, “I know the front end. I know people. My forte is gathering people and walking them through the steps.”

Mara also likened the choice to changing an old tire with a new and justified the recommendation by stating:

“We’re so beyond just changing tires here. We’re really looking for a whole new system, a whole new vehicle. To get there we really just need to do this deep dive. I’d be really nervous just saying alright we can just go with a cheap or mid-level solution…We’re kind of back where we started from because we have a new interface but our practices haven’t changed. We haven’t done what we really need to do to move ourselves forward.”

Board member Mark Steffen also noted the price difference by positing, “the other 4 or 5 options did not really have as robust alignment and best practice kind of system, right?” In response, Mara said it was hard to compare systems but added:

“It’s about doing it right.  We either do this or we do nothing.  We stick with what we have.  I don’t want to go halfway on it.”

In recommending PowerSchool, Mara also cited benefits such as an easy to use gradebooks for teachers that could be accessed on multiple devices and online registration capability for parents which would do away with paper enrollment packets.

According to the staff report, PowerSchool is an advanced student information system (SIS) designed to meet the needs of the district for several years to come.  Reporting attendance, scheduling classes, recording demographics, grading and generating report cards and transcripts are standard functions of any SIS. PowerSchool enhances many of these functions with a completely web-based system with an Application Programming Interface (API) that allows third-party vendors to integrate.  In addition, a powerful online registration portal will eliminate the need for paper registration packets, with an intuitive parent portal. Replacing our current system Q (formerly named Zangle), with PowerSchool, will give extensive tools to the faculty and staff to meet the growing demands for data reporting and communication.

The Board approved PowerSchool by unanimous vote. It is expected that the new SIS will be fully implemented by the beginning of the 2017-18 School Year.

In a rare public display of discord Councilman Griffiths took issue with Mayor Furey’s appointments to regional boards or agencies at last Tuesday’s meeting. Griffith’s was a notable absentee from the appointment list as all of the other councilmembers, including newly elected Milton Herring, received a nod from the mayor as either a delegate or an alternate on one of the various boards.

Of the apparent snub Griffiths boldly stated:

As can be seen on this item my name is not present.  With all due respect to the mayor’s decision I wanted to share why I will be voting no on this item.  I’ve asked the mayor on multiple occasions over the past two years to appoint me to an outside board or agency and I have received none.  In my opinion, these are important appointments and these appointments should not be politicized.  As you yourself have said mayor, we are a team here and I feel like I am sitting on the sidelines.

Mayor Furey did not directly respond to Griffith’s comments, but did dismissively state that “there are only so many appointments.”  The Council approved the mayor’s appointments by a vote of 6 to 1 with Councilman Griffiths casting the lone dissenting vote. The appointments were as follows:

Due to compulsory Williams reporting requirements, the District disclosed that it had received a Williams Complaint in June of this year.  The complainant alleged that restrooms were not properly maintained and stocked and that they were not a sufficient amount of restrooms kept open during school hours.  More specifically, the complainant wrote:

“No soap in restrooms all year, stall walls rusting and falling off.  No locks on stall doors.”

Williams Complaints stem from a 2004 legal settlement in which the plaintiffs asserted that public agencies failed to provide public school students with equal access to instructional materials, safe and decent school facilities, and qualified teachers.  Due to that settlement, persons may lodge a complaint based on the following criteria:

• Students do not have a book or instructional materials to use in class and take home;
• School facilities pose a threat to the health and safety of students or staff;
• Classroom does not have a permanent teacher assigned or teacher is not qualified to teach; or
• A restroom is not fully operational, well maintained and cleaned, stocked with supplies, and open during school hours.

Under the Williams Complaint procedures, the principal must investigate and fix the problem within 30 working days.  The complaint against TUSD was submitted to the principal at Torrance High School.  In response to an inquiry on the subject, the Senior Director of Elementary Schools,  E Don Kim, wrote in an e-mail that the issue “was handled and resolved by the principal and custodial staff at the school.”

The School Board declined to comment on the complaint at last night’s School Board meeting.