When B.C. decides to implement an alternate method of tracking student information to replace the much-maligned BCeSIS software program, Matt Pearce is hoping School District 57 will wait until the bugs have been worked out.
Like many teachers in the province who have struggled with what's been described as a clunky, outdated, and expensive computer system, the president of the Prince George District Teachers' Association has torn his own hair out in frustration with the B.C. Enterprise Student Information System, ever since it was introduced in 2005.
Pearce implored trustees at Tuesday night's public meeting to not be "guinea pigs" in test-driving a new computer program until it has been field tested and proven to be reliable. The database is needed for teachers to input student progress and implement timetables, and for school districts to track student transfers, and attendance. One of its functions is to record class data, which determines how individual schools are funded.
"Bad is a kind word for it, I think the people who wrote the software for BCeSIS went on to write the Apple maps program, it's shocking how often the system has been down at crucial periods," said Pearce.
"It's often down right around reporting periods, when lots of data is being entered from hundreds of schools. People end up working nights and weekends to try to conform to a system that simply was oversold in terms of its abilities and capacities. We were early adopters last time and we took our lumps. Any time a brand-new product comes out, there will for sure be problems with it and just ask on behalf of the employees who must work with whatever system comes, that we not be the guinea pigs this time."
In September 2011, the education ministry said it would discontinue use of BCeSIS and will develop a new system, but it would not have a replacement before 2014. An independent study found the program did not provide schools with satisfactory reports or data analysis, would be difficult to service and upgrade, and was not meeting the needs of schools. Pearson Education bought BCeSIS in 2010 and announced it would no longer be supporting the software in 2013.
The program cost $16 million to develop and $11 million annually to operate and maintain. Each school district pays $10 per student to keep the program operating. With about 13,000 students in SD 57, that amounts to $130,000 per year.
When it came on stream seven years ago, BCeSIS replaced a paper filing system for entering student data and teachers not only had to learn how to use the software, but also how to input report card information using computers.
District superintendent Brian Pepper said Pearce was incorrect when he said Prince George was among the first group of school districts to adopt BCeSIS, when it was introduced as a voluntary program. It's now used in 56 of the 60 districts in B.C., tracking 600,000 students and available to 40,000 teachers.
"We were in the third wave, not the first wave, and there were probably some early glitches we weren't aware of in our school district," said Pepper. "We had substantial staff training and times were different than they are today. It was more than just a program, it was a new way of doing business, using computers. Whatever happens this time I think the transition will go much smoother because it won't be a double transition like it was."
While Pepper admits there have been challenges with BCeSIS, he said the system offers quick tracking of students moving from school to school and a method of checking if a student is enrolled in more than one school.
"It has improved over time, but I would be in error to say there haven't been issues with it," said Pepper.
A light agenda resulted in a quick school board meeting that lasted less than an hour, one of the shortest in board chair Sharel Warrington's three terms as a trustee. The board passed a motion to thank the province for its work on developing the ERASE (Expect Respect and A Safe Education) anti-bullying strategy. In its letter to the education ministry, SD 57 will ask to be reimbursed for the cost of implementing the ERASE program, which features an online method for students to report bullying incidents.
Trustees passed all three readings of a bylaw to guarantee approval of the modular school project to replace Giscome elementary school in the Willow River area northeast of Prince George.
A bylaw which specifies the inaugural meeting of the school board to be held the first Tuesday of December was amended to put that meeting off until Dec. 12, so all trustees are able to attend. The December meeting will result in election of the board's chair and vice-chair, and will determine trustee appointments to committees.
