Monday, June 14, 1999
Schools update systems
Race is on for Y2K compliance
BY BERNIE MIXON
The Cincinnati Enquirer
While the focus of the Year 2000 (Y2K) bug has been its effect on home and business computers, schools — where classroom computers have become more norm than novelty — are also feeling its impact.
The race to beat the millennium bug can be critical for schools where computers are not only used to teach but also regulate everything from boilers to student schedules.
Although many Tristate schools will spend the summer working to update computers, Y2K compliance can come at a cost. Cincinnati Public Schools (CPS) has spent $7.4 million on new computers, software and related costs.
According to a U.S. Department of Education survey, the cost to bring a school district into compliance can range from hundreds of thousands of dollars to the millions.
Y2K's impact can be felt in other ways. Winton Woods
City Schools may consider altering the winter break as a precaution to potential Y2K problems.
“There are roughly 16,000 school districts in the country. Each school district has multiple schools,” said Dave Dexter, deputy director of the Year 2000 Project for the U.S. Department of Education. “All are faced with it in one facet or another.”
School officials point out that although they will be compliant come Jan. 1, school could be affected if utilities or communities experience problems.
The U.S. Department of Education mailed a publication to school districts called “Squashing the Millennium bug: A Year 2000 Compliance Guide for Elementary/Secondary Schools and School Districts'' to guide districts through the process.
School districts have formed committees made up of district technology experts and others to map out plans to become Y2K compliant.
“We actually have a chart that we are tracking. It's 35 pages long with anything we think is a potential Y2K issue,” said Charles Dick, CPS' assistant treasurer and chairman of the district's Y2K committee.
A large chunk of CPS' $7.4 million was spent to install a student tracking system. The system is used for things such as student records, attendance, and emergency information.
“A little over $6 million was spent on putting a new student tracking system in: 500 new machines, software, the servers to run the software, consultants and help with conversion, testing, and training,” Mr. Dick said.
Some of the old machines are being reworked and placed in the schools, Mr. Dick said. “They are going out there to supplement programs that are not Apple-based,” he added.
The rest of the money was spent on upgrading other systems.
The district's payroll system has been compliant since 1992 and the financial system has been compliant since 1994. In addition, Mr. Dick said, the support systems such as fax machines, copiers and elevators also are compliant.
Cost becomes less of a factorin newer districts that have newer computers.
For example, at Kings Local, the district has not spent any money to do its upgrades. The district has used free patches and fixes supplied on the Internet.
“Our network is new. The phone system is new,” said Mike Davis, director of technology. “We went through a big technological upgrade last year. We are in really good shape because of it.”
And when you live in an “Apple” world, where most computers are MacIntosh computer systems — the Y2K's impact lessens because those computers were programmed in four digits. The core of the Y2K problem is that computer systems commonly are programmed in two digits. Because the first two digits of the year are omitted, computer programs assume that each date entry is a date in the 20th century.
In the Lakota school district, where the majority of the computers are Apples, spending on Y2K compliance has been estimated at less than$5,000.
“Being a MacIntosh district is nice: if you are on a Mac platform you are Y2K compliant and don't run into the issues you run into with older Windows machines,” said Gary Canterbury, director of the technology department.
“The few Windows machines we have are in our business departments,” Mr. Canterbury said. “We have identified them and will complete the remediation this summer and testing this fall.”
As districts work to get their own computer systems in order, they are also requesting compliance statements from financial institutions, utilities, and office supply stores.
“As long as the infrastructure of the city is up,” the district will be ready for students when they return from winter break on Jan. 3., Mr. Dick said.
Winton Woods sent compliance letters to vendors. So far the district has received 70 to 75 percent of them back. “We even sent them to the police departments to make sure 911 would be working,” Steve Mathews, the district's business manager.
The U.S. Deparment of Education's Mr. Dexter estimates that come Jan. 1 districts should be compliant. “By and large they should be,” he said. “There may be minor inconveniences here and there.”
At Boone County Schools, where IBM-compatible computers are in every classroom, about 2,000 machines needed to have upgrades.
“We are up to about 85 to 90 percent finished with that and will finish that up this summer,” said Mike Hammerle, network systems manager for the district.
Others may need more time.
The Y2K committee at Winton Woods district will submit a proposal this month to the school board asking it to alter the school calendar to bring the students back from winter break on Jan. 5 instead of Jan. 3.
“That gives us two extra days on Jan. 3 and 4 to assess where we are and if there is anything critical that we need to work on,” Mr. Mathews said.
CPS officials don't expect school to be interrupted. “Students are expected to be in school. The phone masters will be ready to call for those who aren't,” Mr. Dick said.
“The district believes we have done our due diligence and believe our systems are compliant and will be ready. Unlike other districts, we did not adopt a "Y2K Day,'” he said.
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