Tri-Creek School Corporation – Student Information System REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL The Board of School Trustees of Tri-Creek School Corporation is receiving proposals on its Student Management System for five schools. Proposals will be accepted until December 20th, 2013 at 10:00 am at 195 West Oakley Avenue, Lowell, IN 46356, at which time they will be opened. Submit two copies of the proposal. An additional digital copy in searchable PDF format should be emailed to Jay Blackman (jblackman@tricreek.k12.in.us) prior to December 20th, 2013. Proposal specifications can be obtained from Jay Blackman, Director of Information and Educational Technology, at 195 West Oakley Avenue, Lowell, IN 46356, online at www.tricreek.k12.in.us or by calling the Tri-Creek School Corporation Administration Office at 219-750-1293. Board of School Trustees Tri-Creek School Corporation Douglas Ward, President Michelle Dumbsky, Vice President Robert Martinez, Secretary Timothy Cottingham, Member David Stanton, Member 1 Tri-Creek School Corporation – Student Information System Tri-Creek School Corporation Request for Proposal for Student Information System Brief Overview of Tri-Creek School Corporation Tri-Creek School Corporation (TCSC) is located in Lowell, Indiana. There are five main school locations; ● Lowell Senior High School (grades 9-12 with approximately 1,200 students) ● Lowell Middle School (grades 6-8 with approximately 850 students) ● Lake Prairie Elementary School (grades K-5 with approximately 400 students) ● Oak Hill Elementary School (grades K-5 with approximately 525 students) ● Three Creeks Elementary School (grades K-5 with approximately 475 students). All five of the main schools and the Central Office are all connected by a fiber optic and wireless WAN. TriCreek School Corporation (TCSC) has additional student facilities and satellite classroom locations that would require real-time access to the Student Information System (SIS) for staff and administrators at those locations through Internet connections since those locations are not on the district’s WAN. Basic Software/Hardware Requirements ● The SIS should be based on a true web-based architecture not a client-server or “web-enabled” system. ● The SIS must be School Interoperability Framework (SIF) Compliant ● The SIS must use a single district-wide database with real-time online access for all users. ● The SIS must have complete solutions for all mandated Indiana state reports. ● The SIS must provide a student/parent portal to view assignments, grades and attendance. ● The SIS must provide a user-friendly method of online registration, customizable by district staff. ● The SIS must provide customizable grade books and seating charts with little to no setup required on the staff side ● The SIS must meet the operational needs of TCSC as outlined in the Operational Details section. ● The SIS must allow TCSC to add and define new data fields and sections to maintain unique data requirements and organization. ● The SIS must allow all building-level office staff to be able to both import and export data in various formats including XML, CSV and text. ● The SIS should include the ability to export any/all data maintained in the SIS to user-defined reports. ● The SIS must allow for the design and development of customized reports and form letters that can be shared with all users in all school locations. ● A clear and complete listing of all hardware/server requirements, operating system(s) requirements, as well as any additional software requirements (such as database software) needed for the purpose of running the SIS system shall be part of the bid. ● The proposal shall include the itemized costs of licensing, conversion, training and annual support and/or maintenance and all other related costs of purchase and implementation. Training Plan - Please include a breakdown of the amount of time required to provide training for all users including teachers, administrators, counselors, clerical staff, and system administrators for a Summer 2014 start date for the 2014-2015 school year. Provide a list of sample curriculum items that would be covered for each category of users and a sample training plan that includes expectations for annual refresher training. Also include any state or local user groups or conferences that provide additional support for staff seeking training. Support Services - Please outline how your organization provides support and maintenance services to your customers. Include the process by which TCSC staff contact the vendor for support, an expectation of timeframes for resolution of minor and major issues, availability of services for both on and off-hours support, including weekends/holidays, and tracking of status of issues. References - The Customer may, with full cooperation of the Vendors, visit client installations to observe system operations and consult with references. The vendor must provide a complete list of ALL Indiana school districts currently using their SIS along with total student count and years as customer. If requested, specified 2 Tri-Creek School Corporation – Student Information System visits and discussion shall be arranged through the Vendors; however, the Vendor personnel shall not be present during discussions with references. The Vendor must provide a minimum of three (3) Indiana reference accounts at which the Vendor provided services within the last two (2) years. Right to Reject - The Customer reserves the right to reject all bids. The Vendor's proposal should reflect their most favorable terms. Price will be a major consideration. However the Customer reserves the right to select the Vendor who, in The Customer's determination, will best meet their needs on a long-term basis regardless of price. Other factors taken in consideration include, but are not limited to, prior experience and performance of the vendor, personnel qualifications, service quality, and management capability. Value Added Incentives - List and explain voluntary alternatives, additions or services to the bid specifications that would come at no additional charge to Tri-Creek School Corporation. Evaluation As part of the review process, a demonstration of the SIS may be required of those vendors who appear to meet the specifications outlined in Operational Details Section listed in this RFP. The demonstration will take place in a TCSC facility and will include teachers, administrators, guidance, front office personnel and TCSC technology support personnel. Evaluations are required to be on current generation software in a live environment with a considerable number of students in the database. Additional requirements for live software demonstrations will be shared with vendors selected to present. The following are the criteria by which Tri-Creek School Corporation will evaluate the SIS: ● SIS meets the operational needs of TCSC as defined in the Operational Details Section ● SIS has a competitive price, including yearly maintenance cost ● Vendor can easily export and convert all data in our current SIS, LogicKey Harmony 2 ● Quality and completeness of response to this RFP provided by Vendor ● Reputation, capacity, experience and financial stability of the Vendor Specifications Tri-Creek School Corporation has created a technical survey for the Vendor to fill out that will identify the operational capabilities of the SIS being proposed. Tri-Creek School Corporation has titled the SIS technical survey the Operational Details Section. The Operational Details Section provides specifics on the operational needs for a student information system for Tri-Creek School Corporation. The Vendor will need to print out the Operational Details Section and identify if the SIS that is being proposed provides the operational capability described in each section by placing a check mark in either the Yes or NO column. Also identify if an additional module or component would need to be purchased to add to the base system for any item that is marked with a YES. To identify if an additional module is needed, just put a check mark in the Additional Module column for that item. The Vendor may create codes to place in the Additional Module column to identify different or specific modules. The Vendor would need to provide a list to define the codes. The final installation price quoted must include any and all modules/components to provide the operational capabilities that are marked as YES in the Operational Details section that is submitted with your proposal. Feel free to add notes to any section to clarify any issue in the Operational Details Section. The completed technical survey is required with each proposal submitted. Web Browser – Platform Independent - The SIS must be based on a true web-based architecture and not a client-server or “web-enabled” system. The SIS must use a single district-wide database with real-time online access through a web browser for all users in all locations. The SIS should be platform independent for the end user and work if the end-user is using Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari or Chrome web browsers for both Microsoft Windows and Macintosh OSX. Additional consideration will be given to vendors who demonstrate a mobile interface compatible with Apple iOS and Android operating systems. If there are limitations, compatibility issues or differences in functionality with any of the current releases of the four browsers listed above, the Vendor needs to provide documentation on the issues in the appropriate 3 Tri-Creek School Corporation – Student Information System section in the Operational Details Section. If the SIS is able to provide full access utilizing other operating system platforms, please provide that information as well. Software Integration - The SIS needs to integrate our new Student Information System with other existing student databases. It is critical for Tri-Creek School Corporation to develop a system where student data is shared and transferred across a wide range of systems with minimal user interaction. We have listed the main student databases that we currently use that we would need to integrate with our new SIS. School Fiscal Accounting System - Tri-Creek School Corporation is investigating different options where the SIS is able to share data in an automated manner with a school fiscal accounting system. Please provide all information on what school fiscal accounting systems that the SIS can integrate with, including online payment portals. Tri-Creek School Corporation may request the Vendor to provide a list of school districts where the Vendor has successfully integrated the SIS with a school fiscal accounting system within the last two years. The list does not need to be provided with the submitted proposal but may be requested during the review process. Master Schedule Builder and Online Course Registration - The SIS must provide an integrated Master Schedule Builder as well as options for Online Course Requests and Online Registration. Please provide information on the Master Schedule Builder for the SIS being proposed as well as details on what options are available for Online Course Requests and Online Registration for our middle and high school students. Please provide the additional costs that would be associated with the Master Schedule Builder and Online Course Registration, including information on any additional modules that would need to be purchased for the SIS, additional hardware/software that would need to be purchased above and beyond what is needed for the operation of the SIS as well as contact information for the individual who can provide more details regarding the Master Schedule Builder and Online Course Registration options. Email Lists – The SIS must provide the capability for office personnel or individual teachers to send out email notifications to specific groups of parents or students. As an example, the elementary office would have the capability to send out an email through the SIS to all email addresses listed in the student contact section for all students in the entire building or just one grade level. The classroom teacher would have the ability to send out an email to all email addresses listed in the student contact section for all students listed in one specific class through the SIS. Furthermore, individual athletic/extracurricular coaches and sponsors would be able to email groups of students based off of sports or activities. Staff members should be able to create user-defined groups. Please provide a general overview of how email messaging works with the SIS and the additional costs that would be associated with providing that capability to all staff, including information on any additional modules that would need to be purchased for the SIS, additional hardware/software that would need to be purchased above and beyond what is needed for the operation of the SIS as well as contact information for the individual who can provide more details regarding the email messaging options. Emergency Alert System – An Emergency Alert System will be a critical communication component for TriCreek School Corporation. Please provide clear documentation on which Emergency Alert Systems the SIS can integrate with and the steps needed for contact information entered in the SIS to be transferred to the Emergency Alert System. The preference for Tri-Creek School Corporation is if there an automated process which will automatically update contact information in the Emergency Alert System when contact data is updated in the SIS. If an option for parents and guardians to add other contact information to the Emergency Alert System is available, please provide information for that option. Automated Exports – The SIS must provide a method by which TCSC staff can develop user-defined automated exports without submitting a request for support to the vendor. Please provide an explanation of the process by which TCSC staff members are able to develop a user-defined export, schedule the automation of the export (including options for time, date and frequency) and the location of exports within the system. Exports should be able to be exported to a local server for upload by client programs defined in the next section. 4 Tri-Creek School Corporation – Student Information System Tri-Creek School Corporation utilizes other systems with student databases. If there are options to integrate/share data with our other systems, please provide any information on how the proposed SIS can integrate with the following systems: ● Acuity - Tri-Creek School Corporation utilizes Acuity as our testing/evaluation software for our ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● students. Please provide some documentation on how data that is exported out of the SIS and entered in the Acuity system. Edulog – Tri-Creek School Corporation utilizes Edulog as our transportation software. Please provide some documentation on if or how data can be shared between the SIS and Edulog. If additional hardware/software would be needed (such as some form of a SIF Zone Integration Server) please provide some documentation on what would be needed. Lightspeed TTC - Tri-Creek School Corporation utilizes Lightspeed TTC as our Internet filter/content management system. Please provide data on import of student demographic information into Lightspeed for user and group management. Renaissance Learning STAR Reading - Tri-Creek School Corporation utilizes Renaissance Learning products for all schools. Please provide documentation on automation of export of demographic and course scheduling data to the Renaissance Learning RDI process for automatic uploads. Mealtime- Tri-Creek School Corporation utilizes Mealtime’s web-based mPower product for all schools. Please provide documentation on automation of export of demographic data and import of free/reduced lunch data from mPower. Destiny - Tri-Creek School Corporation utilizes Destiny as our school library management system. Please provide documentation on automation of export of demographic data into Destiny. SchoolMessenger - Tri-Creek School Corporation utilizes SchoolMessenger as our emergency notification system. Please provide documentation on automation of export of demographic data into SchoolMessenger and import of changes from SchoolMessenger’s parent interface. Moodle/Echo - Tri-Creek School Corporation utilizes Moodle and New Tech Network Echo as our school learning management systems. Please provide documentation on automation of export of demographic data into these systems and import of grading data into the SIS from these systems, including integration of gradebooks. Pearson Inform - Tri-Creek School Corporation utilizes Pearson Inform as our grade and assessment clearinghouse. Please provide documentation on automation of export of demographic and test score data into this system. Questions - Questions about this RFP can be made in writing to Jay Blackman, Director of Information and Educational Technology for Tri-Creek School Corporation to his email account: jblackman@tricreek.k12.in.us This RFP and all clarifications or other answers to questions about the RFP will be posted on Tri-Creek School Corporation’ website at: www.tricreek.k12.in.us 5 Tri-Creek School Corporation – Student Information System OPERATIONAL DETAILS SECTION Print out and return with your proposal Item NO Core Design 1 SIS is based on a true web-based architecture and not a client-server or “web-enabled” system. 2 SIS uses a single district-wide database with real-time online access through a web browser for all users in all locations. 3 SIS is platform independent for the end user. The end-user can use Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari or Chrome web browsers. 4 SIS provides a mobile compliant interface for Apple iOS and Android devices. 5 SIS is School Interoperability Framework (SIF) Compliant. Vendor Comments for Core Design 6 YES Additional Module Tri-Creek School Corporation – Student Information System Item NO Conversion of Data 1 Vendor has successfully converted data from the LogicKey Harmony 2 system within the last two years. 2 Vendor can provide a methodology for importing document/file data (i.e. report cards, guidance memos, student photos, emails) from LogicKey Harmony 2 system into proposed SIS. 3 Vendor can provide a list of school districts where the Vendor has successfully converted data from LogicKey Harmony 2 systems to the proposed SIS within the last two years. The list does not need to be provided with the submitted proposal but may be requested during the review process. Vendor Comments for Conversion of Data 7 YES Additional Module Tri-Creek School Corporation – Student Information System Development of Reports The process of reviewing data and creating a wide range of reports is a critical issue in the evaluation of the SIS. The SIS must have complete solutions for all mandated Indiana state reports, including all STN reports listed by the Indiana Department of Education at: http://www.doe.in.gov/stn/ In Tri-Creek School Corporation state reports are submitted at both the corporation and building level. The SIS must provide a solution where appropriate corporation and building-level personnel can review all building level data for a specific state report and then generate and submit the report to the STN Application Center. The Indiana Department of Education has discussed developing a process to submit daily STN reports automatically without any user-intervention in the creation and submission of the reports. If the SIS is able to generate and submit some STN reports automatically, the Vendor should provide a brief general overview regarding the capabilities for the SIS to accomplish that task. Item 8 NO Reporting and Data Management Details 1 SIS allows for the recording of all data related to all Indiana and federal reports. 2 SIS allows for automated generation of STN reports that will allow for automated submission to the state. If SIS is capable of accomplishing this task, please provide brief overview of how the task is accomplished and which STN reports can be automated. 3 Building-level access to create STN state reports either in CSV or XML format using the format and codes required by each report. 4 Provide building-level review and error-checking capabilities for all STN Reports listed by the Indiana Department of Education at: http://www.doe.in.gov/stn/ 5 Provide user-friendly user-defined reporting, including AND, OR, NOT, wildcards, and historical data 6 Capability to set up and keep pre-defined groups or filters which can be included or excluded in the creation of reports. 7 Provide honor roll, class rank, grade exception, grade verification and other standard reports 8 Identify students with legal documentation on file, such as Child Custody Orders, Restraining Orders, adoption documentation..etc. 9 Accommodate mass upload of any student data into SIS based on student’s STN. This is critically important for student testing data such as ISTEP, ECA, LAS Links, ACT and SAT. 10 All data in SIS can be exported to a user-defined report. 11 SIS has ability to create a template to export student data in the correct format for automated exports and make it available to other users. 12 Provide real time full integration of information between schools and the district; ALL data available real-time throughout system YES Additional Module Tri-Creek School Corporation – Student Information System 13 All information about a student is entered only once and is thereafter available real time throughout all modules, both online and for reporting 14 Accommodate unlimited user-defined fields and comments 15 Ability to limit customization of data field types or inputting of incorrect data using standardized field types (i.e. text, numerical only, dropdowns with pre-defined choices for demographic/ethnic data) Vendor Comments for Reporting and Data Management Details 9 Tri-Creek School Corporation – Student Information System Item NO Enrollment Details 1 Record and keep first date of enrollment in US school for reporting 2 Identify and track non-traditional/non-conventional students, such as infants, preschoolers, private school students, inter-district transfers, out of district residents 3 SIS has capability to allow building-level office personnel to add/transfer/drop individual student information electronically on a realtime basis from school to school. 4 Capability for office personnel to lookup and export historical enrollment data for any specific date in the past for any student in any school. 5 When adding a student, SIS is capable of identifying sibling, from which to import demographic data, even if sibling is enrolled in another school in the district. Vendor Comments for Enrollment Details 10 YES Additional Module Tri-Creek School Corporation – Student Information System Item NO Attendance Details 1 All building and classroom/period attendance details and tardies are available in real time at the District level. 2 Capability to track non-public part time pupils in order to take credit for the part time enrollments of home students and special needs. 3 Capability to track students who are on limited or reduced schedules for various reasons. 4 District-level personnel can view current ADA data for both individual schools and the district as a whole 5 District-level personnel can look up historical ADA data on any specific date in the past for any school. 6 Provide user-friendly user-defined reporting, including AND, OR, NOT, wildcards, and historical data for all attendance data. 7 Provide monitoring and alerts of absences and truancies according to user or school defined policies. 8 Provide generation of notices for truancy, habitual truants, and unexcused absences, all based on user-defined criteria. 9 Provide differentiation of school-counted absence info and IDOEcounted absence info reported to the state. Vendor Comments for Attendance Details 11 YES Additional Module Tri-Creek School Corporation – Student Information System Item NO Health and Medical Details 1 Provide teachers with a clear alert in the gradebook program of students with special medical needs. 2 Provide office personnel with a clear alert of students with special medical needs in the student data entry section of SIS. 3 Capability to record narrative comments for each medical condition and requirement. 4 Accommodate unlimited number of doctors and specialists to be entered and maintained with descriptions and unlimited phone numbers. 5 Accommodate narrative comments on each doctor record. 6 Generate exception letters based on number of immunization shots required for each vaccine according to grade level. Ability to modify required shots table. 7 Provide means for service providers to document services required by IEP or Section 504 8 Record and report medication administered, including medication name, staff assessment of condition, date, time, and staff member who administered. This information should not be limited to nursing staff. 9 Record and report standard health screenings, including total students screened by grade level as well as the ability to add other test results that may be required in the future as well as retain with the student record from year to year. 10 Identify students who have various medical forms on file (e.g. Parent Consent form for our Wellness Center, EMA form, CHIRP consent form, doctor consent form on file) as well as the ability to add other forms that may be required in the future 11 Capability to generate student health record reports to verify compliance with various state and local laws. 12 Capability for immunization surveillance and a report for immunization compliance. 13 Conforms to HIPPA data security requirements Vendor Comments for Health and Medical Details 12 YES Additional Module Tri-Creek School Corporation – Student Information System Item 13 NO Grading/Transcript Details 1 Provide web based teacher record/grade books that can be accessed on any web browser. 2 Maintain K-12 report card/course grade history for student. Include support for transfer students with grade histories/report cards from outside schools. 3 Capability for individual schools to specify optional subjects to be graded and reported with a mixture of scales/score types. 4 Print report cards in English and Spanish. 5 Capability for teacher to create progress reports at any point in the semester. 6 Capability to track repeated courses, applying district rules regarding earning multiple credit, suppressing D's and F's, etc. 7 Accommodate data collection and reporting related to standards based grade reporting including the acceptance of input of like S,NS or U or numerics. 8 SIS allows for customized report card and transcript templates (ICAN, TCSC-specific elementary standards-based report card) 9 SIS allows for assignments/grades to transfer with the students if student switches to another section of a subject they are in. 10 SIS gradebook allows for a district bank of pre-defined comments and a personal bank of comments for report cards and progress reports. 11 SIS gradebook allows a teacher to email parents of students in a specific class through the SIS, without the teacher having to maintain the e-mail addresses. 12 SIS gradebook allows a teacher to not post grades or assignments still within the gradebook, if the teacher does not yet want them published to the student/parent portal. 13 SIS gradebook for a specific class or course can be viewed by administrators. 14 SIS provides for an easily viewed assignment summary for students without needing to view the entire gradebook. 15 SIS gradebook seating chart allows for pictures. 16 Attendance can be taken from an on-line seating chart. YES Additional Module Tri-Creek School Corporation – Student Information System 17 Allow user-defined reporting and saved querying of GPA's and grades, selecting by student, teacher, subject, etc. 18 SIS allows early graduated students to remain in GPA calculations throughout the entire school year. 19 SIS allows for reporting of varied formulas for graduate honors based on student grade level (valedictorian/salutitorian vs. cum laude/magna cum laude). Vendor Comments for Grading/Transcript Details 14 Tri-Creek School Corporation – Student Information System Item 15 NO Guidance Details 1 Record Four-Year Plan providing for annual updating during articulation 2 Record RTI information 3 Record student visits to counselor including date, purpose, outcome, reason for visit, and notes 4 Provide honor roll, class rank, grade exception, grade verification and other standard reports for current and historical dates 5 Identify students meeting district requirements for athletic and other co- and extra-curricular program participation 6 Record, track, and report on students participating in various categorical programs, including English Learner Programs, Gifted and Talented Education, McKinney-Vento, Title I, and Migrant Education. 7 Maintain record of student eligibility for categorical program participation independent of actual participation and be able to link/compare eligibility and participation. 8 Record changes in a student’s participation in a categorical program, keeping start and end dates of program participation, student's eligibility, etc. 9 SIS allows for cross enrollment of students between two schools. 10 SIS allows for one teacher to be scheduled at multiple schools 11 SIS allows for multiple teachers to have non-standard sections and class times to allow for online/blended courses. 12 Provide calculation of many different GPA's (ex: term, cumulative 7-9, 9-12, 10-12, weighted, unweighted, academic, total, a-f, core courses, etc.) 13 Graduation – SIS can record and report completed courses and graduation requirements according to graduation plan. 14 Graduation – SIS provides automated credit check (by subject and totals) for graduation status check. 15 Graduation – SIS provides capability to add points to GPA calculation based on student schedule or other weighting factors as determined by the administration. 16 Generate warnings of students at risk of not meeting graduation requirements in real-time and historically. YES Additional Module Tri-Creek School Corporation – Student Information System 17 SIS supports the development and management of Student Behavior Intervention Plans Vendor Comments for Guidance Details 16 Tri-Creek School Corporation – Student Information System Item NO Fee Details 1 Capability to pro-rate fees for students who do not complete a full semester in a class. 2 Capability to provide parents automated fee invoice that accurately reflects any changes to fees that may occur after a course change. 3 Capability to carry over fees from previous years. 4 Capability to provide reporting to staff and parent by fee and course as well as provide detailed transaction reports 5 Capability to track fees that are to be waived for specific students. 6 Capability to interface with 3rd party payment portals for collection of online textbook rental payments, damages/lost equipment, and extracurriculur/athletic fees. Vendor Comments for Fee Details 17 YES Additional Module Tri-Creek School Corporation – Student Information System Item NO Parent Portal Details 1 SIS provides the ability for parents to view real-time grade, assignment, discipline, transportation, fees/balances and attendance data online. 2 SIS provides the ability for parents to update demographic data for students online. 3 Updated parent demographic data must be approved by staff before populated into SIS and available for reporting. 4 SIS provides the ability for parents to directly contact teacher or administrator directly through parent portal to address concerns. 5 SIS provides the ability for staff to schedule customized messages to be displayed on the parent portal. 6 SIS provides the ability for parents to initiate payment of textbook rental and fees through the parent portal (may utilize 3rd party payment portal) 7 SIS provides the ability for parents to register students online via the parent portal. 8 SIS provides the ability for staff to customize all registration documents and fields required. 9 SIS provides the ability for students to register for class schedules online and request add/drop courses with guidance approval. Vendor Comments for Parent Portal Details 18 YES Additiona l Module Tri-Creek School Corporation – Student Information System Additional Vendor Comments Not Addressed Above 19