The DeKalb County school board approved another $2.35 million investment in a software integration project that has lingered for years and is now millions over budget.
The district has been trying to switch to a new system to handle financial and human resources information over the past seven years. But leadership changes, data conversion problems and bureaucratic challenges have delayed the project repeatedly, leading not only to higher-than-expected costs but leaving the district vulnerable to accounting errors and financial waste.
The total cost of the project is now more than $23 million, with an expected completion date five years past the original plan.
The school board approved the original contract with Tyler Technologies for the MUNIS computer system in July 2016. At the time, the plan was for the system — which would handle vendor contracts, payroll and transportation data — to be fully implemented by February 2019. The price was $12.76 million.
By January 2020, only pieces of the system were functional in DeKalb. The implementation date was pushed back to January 2022, and the district put another $5.5 million into the effort.
In October 2021, the district’s original contract with Tyler Technologies was expiring. The board approved a $781,000 contract extension with the understanding that it would be complete by July 2022. That didn’t happen, and in 2022, the board approved another $1.9 million contract extension.
And this week, it approved another $2.35 million extension of the contract. Part of that money is the annual cost of the system, but more than half is for “implementation services.”
Superintendent Devon Horton said this week the project should be wrapped up by June 2024.
When the board extended the contract last year, board member Allyson Gevertz said the district is “outrageously behind” on the implementation.
Board member Vickie Turner said at a meeting in July that she understands transitions like this are “time-intensive” and “laborious” processes, but that other districts have been able to accomplish it in shorter periods of time.
“That has not been the history of DeKalb, for whatever reason,” she said. “I think coming into it, we didn’t maybe as board members have a realistic idea of how this transition really works.”
In reports about the district’s finances dating back to at least 2021, state auditors have pointed out the financial risks to the slow transition. The district is continuing to use its previous system to maintain financial information, which means it’s paying for both systems and there’s an increased workload on staff. There’s also the increased risk of errors as staff tries to get information into both systems, auditors stated.
New project managers are working to figure out what still needs to be done and put together a redefined plan, Horton said at the meeting last month. Chief Financial Officer Byron Schueneman told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that a conversion team meets several times a week to get the project done. The board and public can expect more regular updates on the project, Horton said.
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