Change can be difficult, but you can’t move forward without it.
Khris Thexton, USD 428 director of business, understands this as he attempts to move district patrons and employees to an electronic and more accurate school district calendar and away from the hard copy they have relied on for many years.
“We will not be printing hard copies of the calendar this year,” Thexton said, explaining the decision is based on many reasons.
“First of all, the budget is tight and the limited funds we have can be used for student learning instead of printing a calendar,” he said. “We can save about $10,000.
“Also, last year the district switched companies for our website and we are underutilizing many of the calendar features available to us now,” Thexton said. “We are paying for the service, so we might as well use it.”
Most school districts in the state no longer offer hard-copy calendars, not only because of the expense, but because “as soon as you print it, the information is outdated. You can’t go back and make corrections and additions,” he said.
“There will be growing pains, like with anything,” he said, “but I think when people get used to it they will like the reliable information that can be specifically tailored to their needs.”
He said the district is putting a lot of effort into the calendar on the website to assure it is as accurate as possible. Information will be updated daily, if needed, so that the community can depend on it.
“We want it to be an effective, informational tool for people in the district,” Thexton said. “We know there are people who don’t use computers or don’t have smartphones and we will work to make sure they know what is going on, too.”
The district will have written information about how to use the calendar on the website and available at enrollment. People will also be able to contact District Education Center staff for step-by-step verbal instructions.
A feature available with the electronic version is the ability to see (and print) all of the activities in the district or filter by various schools.
“Someone with students at the high school and Eisenhower School, for instance, can have access to only those schools. It will simplify it for them if they want to look at it quickly or print it out,” he said. “People can also click on an event for more information like a map to help them find an away game.”
There is also a mobile version for smartphones so people can always have access to the information.
Thexton is hopeful that people will give the electronic version a chance by trying it out.
“I promise, it is easy to use,” he said. “We will take any suggestions to make the transition or use of it better.”