LA Schools To Debut Staffer Computer System Despite Complaints

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — The Los Angeles Unified School District will move ahead with plans to launch a new computer system when students return Tuesday for the school year.

The My Integrated Student Information System is designed to serve as a one-stop shop for school staffers and combines a number of existing systems to provide student records, assist in planning academic paths, schedule classes, track student attendance, record grades and other tasks.

But some educators worry that glitches and an overall lack of training could leave some students without class schedules and cause other issues during the school year.

Critics have urged LAUSD officials to delay the rollout for another year.

A status report posted to the MISIS website Thursday said users were "experiencing intermittent issues with performance" and that the issue was being investigated.

MISIS was designed in response to a 1993 lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union over the failure of district officials to locate the records of a 10th-grade student at Marshall High School, according to The Daily News.

District officials faced criticism earlier this year for a $1 billion plan to distribute iPad tablet computers to all LAUSD students — an effort that has been criticized as short-sighted since the gadgets were given away at 47 schools in the fall.