Student Information Systems

Nebraska District Unifies Multiple Processes into a Single SIS

• By Michael Hart
• 11/12/15

Kearney Public Schools (KPS) in Kearney, NE is moving from a student information management process that involved multiple systems to a single student information system (SIS).

The district in central Nebraska chose Infinite Campus, a software provider that focuses on education, to unify online enrollment, online payment and online messaging into a single system for KPS.

The new system, which will go live in January, will give educators and administrators in the 5,300-student district real-time access to information almost anywhere and at any time. Administrators said they are looking forward to a centralized database that can be used as a district-wide repository of data that will help with data-driven decision-making.

"Our previous system merely housed information," said KPS Technology Director Troy DeHaven. "We couldn't import assessment scores to track student progress."

With the new Infinite Campus SIS, Kearney educators should be able to tie assessments to students and review progress over multiple years. That will help curriculum staff make plans for the future and principals monitor progress in their own schools.

Apparently, the new SIS will also be more affordable than either KPS's previous setup or other alternatives it was considering.

"When I ran the numbers, Campus represented a $25,000 annual savings over our legacy system, along with the third-party applications," DeHaven said. "It just made sense to combine everything into an integrated solution."

Infinite Campus representatives said they will provide monthly enhancements to Kearney's SIS as new innovations are discovered.

KPS has one high school, two middle schools, 10 elementary schools and one preschool.