LAUSD makes significant progress with MiSiS system

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- As Los Angeles classrooms open, it is district officials talking about lessons they have learned. On Tuesday, they report that they have not licked all the problems caused by the LAUSD computer system, but they have made significant progress.

The most dramatic turnabout is marked at Jefferson High School in South Los Angeles. The principal, Dr. Jack Foote, allowed us inside, a rare move at any school during classroom hours. The atmosphere was like a prep school academy.

"We had the schedule posted up, and the kids knew where to go, and they were where they were supposed to be," Foote said.

The placid hallways are far cry from the protests last year sparked by MiSiS -- LAUSD's newly adopted computer system. Students walked out unable to enroll in classes they needed. Teachers were stymied.

What made the difference?

LAUSD showed us the downtown command center for MiSiS. Now, trouble shooters are dispatched to schools that report major snags. Computer techs are on the phone to help at the first sign of trouble.

Last year, a teacher could have been on hold for two hours to get help. Today, the average wait time was 50 seconds.

"We have received 182 phone calls since 7 a.m. this morning ... that's below average," says Diane Pappas, LAUSD's CEO for strategic planning.

She says that with a $100 million infusion, the district purchased the largest computer server it could find to manage mountains of records MiSiS must handle. But the real key, says Superintendent Ramon Cortines, is management of existing resources.

"The pieces have to be seen as interlocking. They are not separate entities. This is a $12 billion business," Cortines said.

For schools like Jefferson, MiSiS presented a steep learning curve.

"Most of the information you need is there. It is because you are using a different system. You don't know what its features are," Foote said.

The superintendent stresses that more problems will emerge in the future. Resolving them will depend on all parties listening to each other. He says district officials failed to listen to teachers last year who said schools were not ready for the new computer system.

He says, "I have written a letter to the board: Never let this happen again."