Hillsborough County Public Schools Information and Technology
Information Item

DATE: Tuesday, August 15, 2006
TO: School Board Members
FROM: MaryEllen Elia, Superintendent

SUBJECT / RECOMMENDATIONS

SILK Scheduler Update

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

High schools and career centers created master schedules for the 2006-07 school year using the Silk Scheduler. Silk was purchased from ExLogica Corporation at the request of high school administrator and guidance counselor organizations. This project directly involved every school district division except Facilities.

Core teams of four people from each high school and career center attended extensive workshops throughout the year. The final product was the school's master schedule. During the workshops, Silk gave schools the ability to test multiple versions of a master schedule, immediately see the results, make adjustments as needed, and create "what-if" scenarios. The team could search for the best possible master schedule that would meet the academic needs of the students, utilize resources efficiently, and balance class loads. Silk enabled schools to create Automatic Course Requests (ACRs) for student placement. District subject area supervisors and the local school staff translated our traditional recommended sequence of courses into rules executed by Silk. As a result, students were recommended for courses based on test scores, grade history, and other academic qualifications. Consequently, the courses stretched the students academically and identified those in need of remediation.

Silk provides various reports to the school that can: - summarize units - print schedules - identify students with schedule problems - identify problems in a master schedule - identify load discrepancies among classes - print rosters.

ANNUAL DISTRICT GOAL(S) AND CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTOR(S)

2.b.11 Provide hardware and technical support for curriculum software applications selected to address learning needs to support teacher retention
2.d.3 Implement Master Schedule flexibility to best address student needs for Mathematics remediation or advanced studies.

FINANCIAL IMPACT (Budgeted: Yes)

Prior year funds from E-rate reimbursements of $248,135 and $100,000 from District technology funds will provide $173,885 for SILK Scheduler master schedule development training, $155,125 for SILK Scheduler for middle schools and $19,125 for annual software maintenance. These costs equal a total of $348,135.

EVALUATION

As assessment will be conducted through surveys and interviews at the end of the first year.

SUBMITTED BY: Christina Russell, Supervisor Secondary Generalist and Shawn Roenstad, Team Lead, Technology Training Services

David N. Smith
Manager, Customer Service & Support Department
813-272-4703
Jack E. Davis
Chief Information and Technology Officer
813-272-4600
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Hillsborough County Public Schools (Florida) * Mtg.#20060815_214 * Section W Item# 3