By Linda Lane
A new information system, called Skyward, will be implemented in the Vicksburg Schools to replace the Infinite Campus system and a variety of other financial and human resources management systems currently in use. Steve Goss, assistant superintendent. explained the system package at the November school board meeting.
With the old systems running in tandem for six months to streamline the conversion, the new system allows the District to integrate between the student, human resources, and financial management systems, and eliminate the old standalone systems. The six months of overlap in licensing costs during the implementation period will total approximately $19,000. The functionality of Infinite Campus for parents, such as accessing students’ information on attendance, assignments or grades on phones or tablets, will hopefully be an enhanced experience with Skyward.
The Skyward system will cost approximately $115,000 which will be split into installments over three years, but will have a four-year pay-back in savings from the current systems. Although there will be increased costs associated with the new system, Skyward will ultimately reduce the District’s costs by 30 percent for each subsequent year, saving approximately $30,000 annually to the budget. This will result in a significant long-term savings for the District, Goss emphasized.
“The cost savings is really a bonus, because honestly I think we would implement this new system even if it were a break-even to the District because of the enhancements Skyward offers. It’s going to enhance the experience for parents, teachers and all the staff,” Goss said.
“We’ll devote a lot of time to training all the staff,” Goss explained. “We need to bite the bullet with this new system to better meet the District’s needs.”