District recommends Boyce Systems to replace aging business/accounting software

School City of East Chicago finance staff recommended Boyce Systems on June 17 as the district’s replacement for an older business and financial application that currently handles payroll, personnel, financials and extracurricular accounting.

Presenters said they evaluated several vendors using a scoring matrix that weighed price, functionality, historical-data conversion and vendor training. Nelson Peña summarized the assessment and said Boyce scored highest on historical-data conversion because the vendor offered to convert all historical records rather than a limited multi‑year conversion that some competitors proposed.

Peña said the recommended approach is a ‘‘modified parallel’’ conversion: the district would run existing systems while converting and validating historical data into Boyce; staff anticipated approximately one year of side‑by‑side operations and coordinated on‑site training for district finance and extracurricular-accounting clerks. The recommendation highlighted vendor conversion experience, a comprehensive training plan and automated conversion processes rather than a manual re‑entry of legacy transactions.

Trustees asked about downtime and training scope; staff said conversion would be largely automated with phased training and that Boyce’s package included more on‑site time than competitor proposals.

Ending: Staff recommended the board approve Boyce Systems as the district’s new business application and directed finance staff to return to the board with implementation specifics and timing.