Adams 12 board approves up to $11 million for new Oracle cloud ERP system

The Adams 12 Five Star Schools Board of Education on an 5-0 vote authorized administration to enter agreements to implement an Oracle Cloud enterprise resource planning system, with an implementation budget not to exceed $11,000,000 and annual recurring software licensing costs capped at $1,400,000. The board said the one-time implementation funding will come from interest earnings on the district's 2024 bond.

District staff told the board the current PeopleSoft system, implemented in the 1990s, no longer meets the district's needs and requires extensive manual work and custom support. "Many of our functions are very manual, paper based, and we have a lack of integration between systems," a staff member identified in the meeting as Gina (staff member) said during the presentation. Another staff member, Greg (staff member), said the district's PeopleSoft installation has been substantially customized and requires frequent hands-on fixes to run payroll and other critical processes.

Why it matters: The board's decision moves the district from a legacy server-based system toward a cloud-based solution that combines finance, HR and payroll functions. Staff said the change aims to reduce manual processing, improve internal controls and integrate HR/payroll with the general ledger so forecasting and budgeting are more timely. The administration estimates the implementation will run about three years, starting in July, with go-live anticipated in late 2027.

Details: Staff recommended Oracle Cloud as the platform and AST as system integrator after an 18-month selection process involving more than 30 district staff, vendor demonstrations and site visits to peer districts. According to the presentation, Oracle Cloud received roughly 86% of internal votes as the preferred solution. Staff also described cybersecurity assessments of Oracle Cloud and said Oracle invests heavily in cloud infrastructure and security.

Board members asked about vendor incident response plans, long-term viability of a cloud system and whether moving to the cloud would reduce the district's cybersecurity workload. "There is no such thing as a system that can never be hacked," Gina (staff member) said, but she added the district's cybersecurity team reviewed Oracle's practices and found them robust. Staff clarified that while Oracle will host the HR and finance systems, the district will continue to maintain cybersecurity responsibilities for its broader network.

Action and funding: The motion to authorize the administration to enter agreements for Oracle Cloud and implementation services carried on a voice vote with Director Assad Lucas, Director Battistelli, Director Goldstein, Director Marsh Holshin and Director Potter recorded as voting "aye." The administration said interest earnings on the 2024 bond will cover the one-time implementation cost and that subscription fees will replace existing PeopleSoft costs.

Next steps: Staff said they will begin contract negotiations and implementation planning immediately. The district indicated it will pursue a change-management strategy and that the implementation will affect all employees because of the HR/payroll components.