LaredoBuzz.Com

Courtesy Lauren Cavazos,

(Laredo, Texas)-United ISD’s Office of Technology received the Tyler Excellence award for the year 2020. Due to the Covid 19 pandemic, Tyler canceled their annual Tyler Connect conference for the last two years.

However, the district was invited to receive the award last week in Indianapolis at the Tyler Connect 2022 conference.

United ISD competed with school districts throughout the US and Canada, the entries were judged on: Organizational Efficiency and Productivity, Organizational Responsiveness, Business Value, Innovation, Relevance, and COVID-19 Response.

Many districts can relate to the pressure to comply with new reporting requirements. When United ISD in Texas was facing two new reporting requirements, district leaders knew taking a technology-focused approach would yield the most accurate data. Assistant Superintendent of Technology Hector J. Perez explained, “In an effort to keep up with the state Community Eligibility Provision requirement, our district needed to acquire, process, and maintain good records on family income surveys in order to effectively meet state guidelines and federal law.

The student economic disadvantaged code is one of the most important Public Education Information Management System (PEIMS) codes because it has an impact on funding and student accountability.”
At the same time as income eligibility record requirements were changing, the district was also tasked with keeping meticulous records on individualized graduation readiness indicators.

“The state of Texas requires that all districts report student graduation requirements such as Foundation High School Program performance acknowledgments, military readiness, and student endorsements. All these graduation indicators have to be submitted to the Texas Education Agency. In addition, they have to be included in the Texas Records Exchange system and the Texas Academic Achievement Record. This presented a big challenge due to the size of our school district,” said Perez.

The district got to work right away developing a custom electronic form using Tyler SIS™ Online Registration. This allowed the district to quickly and accurately collect family income surveys and automatically determine where each family’s income and household headcount fell on the Texas Department of Agriculture’s assessment.

Similarly, district staff worked hand-in-hand with Tyler’s support to ensure graduation requirements were being captured for all students. “This was a big project and required the involvement of several departments,” Perez recalled. “In collaboration with Tyler staff, the school district created a graduation plan module. Course pathways were created in Tyler SIS in order to satisfy the completion of the many customized graduation plans and student endorsements.”

As soon as both reports were developed, data began flowing where the district needed it to be. “With this new software solution, the economic disadvantage codes get collected automatically and recorded in the student record on a daily basis.

The school district saved an estimated 140 clerical hours by not having to manually collect and calculate the family income surveys,” Perez said. “Counselors and principals are also able to instantly view the student’s academic history, which includes completed or pursuing endorsements.

The creation of this Tyler SIS solution allows counselors to analyze data, help thousands of students with their progress, and guide them in the completion of their student endorsements.”