L.A. school board approves $11 million to fix faulty records system

The Los Angeles Board of Education on Tuesday approved more than $11 million in additional funds to address problems caused by a new and faulty student records system.

The move is the latest financial toll related to the flawed online data system, which Supt. Ramon Cortines reiterated is at least a year from being completely fixed.

The system caused problems districtwide this fall, with thousands of students unable to enroll in classes required for graduation or college. Teachers were unable to record attendance, and grade information was lost or corrupted.

“We are starting to see evidence that the system is stabilizing,” Cortines said at the board meeting Tuesday. “We are looking at the issues that plague our schools, counselors, teachers and administration. We aren’t saying they don’t exist, but we are trying to resolve them.”

A staff report said the system continues to have performance issues and new bugs arise on a daily basis. “The system, as it stands today, does not meet the needs of our schools,” the report said.

The district has spent more than $130 million trying to develop a fully functional student records system. The new system is called My Integrated Student Information System, or MISIS.

Tuesday’s measure passed unanimously. The cost will be covered with voter-approved school construction bonds.

The funding can be used on contracts with any of 14 companies, including Microsoft, which is on call to help the district with the program.

The additional funds will cover district efforts to fix the system through February, said Matt Hill, the district’s chief strategy officer. L.A. Unified officials will probably return to the independent school construction bonds oversight committee in January to request more funds if needed.

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