Information Technology

	Information Technology Director - David Thibadeau
	Data Center Administrator - Mary Cato
	Data Collection – Ann Elrod
	System Operations – Phil Kline
	Student Information Systems Application Specialist -  Lissa Kaplan Prioritized Departmental Goals
	Data Collection – With a school district as large as Coweta County's, it is important that the data we collect be timely and accurate. This is no easy task, and takes teamwork among Parents, Teachers and Administrators to ensure we have good clean data for making data-driven decisions and for accurate state reporting.
	State Reporting – To remain in compliance with State and Federal guidelines, and to receive correct funding for educational programs, it is imperative that we maintain and report accurate student data throughout the many reporting cycles of each year.

	Provide Information – The Coweta County Board of Education has made significant investments in technology for the business purposes of education. Like any other organization, they are constantly looking for a return on investment. This is done by leveraging the technology to manage and mine data to create information which is used to make informed decisions. As well, providing principals and administrators with the support they need to retrieve and analyze student data helps them stay informed about student performance in the classroom.
	Application Integration – The Student Information Systems Department is playing a major supporting role to the Special Education Department for the implementation of Tranquility Solutions for tracking special education needs. This includes helping them identify areas where our technology capabilities may help them streamline the business processes. We are also supporting the curriculum department with the implementation of the Mobile Schools Solutions application which will replicate SASIxp student data onto the PocketPC devices of administrators.   Measuring Success As the adoption of technology has grown, demands of the department and the staff required has grown. It is important to constantly reassess the goals and measure the success of the department. How is that done? Mission Statement – The department's mission statements explains the very simple purpose of the department:   To aggregate student data and provide accurate, timely information to administration and state agencies in order to maximize the efficiency of operations. All activities of the department are focused with this in mind. Each team member in the department employs a high standard of ethics and has a strong desire to help Coweta County School System offer the best education possible to every child.
	Keeping Administration Informed – The Student Information Systems department realizes its importance to the success of many projects. The department is not one that can function as an island, but rather must utilize the knowledge of education, operations, technology, data, and state and federal laws of the team members to provide support for initiatives throughout the district whether they are school based or county wide projects. Communicating through, and with the support of the Chief Information Officer, the department strives to provide good communication to the district administrators as to the status and value of ongoing initiatives.
	Bridging The Technical Gap – The Student Information Systems Department leverages a variety of different complex technical solutions to transform data into information. District administrators are looking for information as a key to providing solutions. It is the intent of the SIS department to provide meaningful information to the administrators that they can count on. While administration may have the skills to assemble and analyze data, they do not want to get “bogged down” in the technology of data management. The SIS department bridges that gap to provide the information the administrators need and request to support the decision making processes.
	Operations of “Best Practices” – Best practices throughout the department are based on several factors…
	Industry standard information technology policies and procedures
	Solutions built on industry standard technologies
	Cross-training of personnel
	Teamwork and communication
	Strong work ethics

To maintain an operation of best practices means to be in a constant state of learning. Best practices are never constant with the changing laws and changing technologies. The team members in the department are constantly extending their knowledge on existing technologies and are constantly evaluating the value of new technologies. Through vendor hosted trainings and seminars, to professional organization memberships, the team members must stay in touch with their counterparts from throughout the state who face the same challenges and leverage those relationships to help all involved find creative answers to new challenges daily.