Presentation to JFC Committe on April 10, 2013

Here is the text of the testimony provided at the JFC committee hearing on April 10 in Wisconsin Dells on behalf of the Hillsboro School District.

As representatives of the Hillsboro School District we stand before you today to express our grave concerns with the proposed 2013-15 Biennium budget. In the past budget cycle our district saw a decrease in our revenue limit of $517 per student which was followed by a modest $50 increase. We used every tool available to us with Act 10 to balance our budgets, but with the proposed $0 increase in per pupil spending our district will have to begin making decisions that will put our students at a significant disadvantage. 

While fuel costs, health care costs, and food service costs continue to increase, we are now being faced with additional costs in order to prepare for the state’s transition to Smarter Balanced assessments, implementation of Educator Effectiveness training, and developing our curriculum to align with the Common Core standards.  This is all to be accomplished with no increase in per pupil spending and as a result of state mandates.

With no increase in the revenue limit, we will be forced to consider cutting academic programs that are not the essential required courses for graduation such as tech ed, business, ag., and the fine arts also we will have to consider significantly increasing our class sizes which will negatively impact student learning. In our rural community these are essential courses for our students as they will need to compete with other students for jobs and admission to colleges.

The budget is calling for an increase in charter and voucher school options that will drain available funding from our school and community. We do not believe that the issues of expanding private school vouchers and the changes in charter school authority are appropriate items to be included in the budget given the lack of financial support that is being provided for Wisconsin’s public school students. As lawmakers how can it be justified to propose a $0 increase for public school students, but a $600 increase for K-8 private school students and a $1400 increase for 9-12 grade private school students?

As a voice for our public school, we say that we are being set up for failure even though the state is failing to provide an appropriate level of support for our schools and our students.

It is our opinion that this budget as proposed would put our district at risk of failing. And, if our school fails our community will likely follow. To the 1300 residents of Hillsboro and the 525 students of our school…this is a tragic scenario.

We ask that you do the right and just thing and for ALL students in Wisconsin and remove charter school and voucher expansion language from the budget and provide a $150 per pupil increase as Senators Luther Olsen and Mike Ellis have discussed. When Governor Walker presented this budget he said: “I ask the members of this state legislature to review, improve, and then pass this budget. Working together, we can continue to move Wisconsin forward.” Let’s work together and move Wisconsin forward for all our students, not just the few.

SSIS Selection

As the Superintendent of a school district that is currently using Infinite Campus, I am very pleased that it was chosen as the statewide student information system for Wisconsin. Due to the outcry surrounding this selection, this post is simply to share an email message we received from the Wis. Dept. of Public Instruction:

Dear District Administrators:

Over the past two weeks, we have received numerous inquiries on the recent developments regarding the statewide student information system (SSIS), which is required as part of 2011 Wisconsin Act 32, the 2011-13 biennial budget act.   I am writing to provide you background information on the SSIS as well as an update on the status of the project.

Why does DPI support a SSIS?

As the state moves to new assessment, evaluation, and accountability systems, the need for timely, accurate student data has never been greater.  That’s why the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) has advocated for the creation of a SSIS, which will significantly improve student data quality and security, automate burdensome reporting requirements, and considerably reduce local technology costs.   Most importantly, the SSIS will provide access to information and analytical tools for parents, pupils, teachers, and administrators in every district to improve student performance and provide greater public accountability.

At its core, this initiative has been undertaken to reduce costs, improve efficiency, ensure equity across districts, improve data access and security, and extend student information system features beyond what many districts have today. 

How did the SSIS become law?

DPI and the Governor’s office worked with the legislature to create the SSIS as part of the 2011 Wisconsin Act 32, the biennial budget bill, which provided $15 million to cover state and district costs, including the cost of local data migration and staff training.   The Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee further directed that the SSIS must be provided by a single vendor, a position that both DPI and the Governor supported.

While the SSIS will replace local student information systems over a five year transition period, districts will continue to select their own human resource, finance, and other local data systems. 

How did the state select a SSIS vendor?

To implement the legislative requirement for a SSIS, DPI worked with the Department of Administration (DOA) to issue a Request for Proposal (RFP) for the new system.   State law requires DOA’s State Bureau of Procurement (SBOP) to administer the procurement process to ensure vendor selections are fair, unbiased, and free from political influence.  No elected officials or appointed unclassified staff can participate in this process.

Following state procurement rules and guidelines, a committee of experts, including school district staff, DPI technology staff, and DOA SBOP staff, developed the SSIS RFP, which outlined the technical specifications of the SSIS for potential vendors.  All SSIS vendor proposals subsequently underwent an exhaustive review and scoring process by a knowledgeable, experienced evaluation team.   The evaluation team unanimously recommended that the SSIS contract be awarded to the highest scoring proposer. 

On Feb. 1, 2013, DOA issued a letter of intent to award for the SSIS project to Infinite Campus, which received both the highest technical score and had the lowest cost bid, resulting in the highest score. Details can be found in DOA’s news release.  

DOA also retained an independent third-party reviewer to monitor the procurement, evaluation, and selection process.  The third party observer issued an extensive report, noting the SSIS procurement process was “open, fair, impartial, and objective,” that all procurement laws were followed, and that all vendors had an equal opportunity to compete.  In addition, the evaluator found that the evaluation committee was not subject to any outside influence in the selection process.   Essentially, all vendors had the same opportunity to compete for the SSIS project.

What happens now?

Vendors that were not selected have the opportunity to appeal the procurement decision, and at least one vendor, Skyward, has filed a notice of intent to appeal.   Any protest will be thoroughly reviewed to ensure strict compliance with procurement procedure.

The DPI sincerely understands the concern that a Wisconsin vendor was not selected through this process, but long established state procurement laws prohibit considering a company’s home state when selecting a vendor.   

For more information, the DPI has developed a more detailed timeline and history of the project, which can be found along with other background information about the SSIS on our SSIS website.  

We hope this information is helpful to you, and we will continue to keep you apprised as the process moves forward. 

Sincerely,

Mike Thompson, PhD

Deputy State Superintendent

Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction