Katy ISD seeks $1.8M from 2021 bond savings to expand electronic document management districtwide

KATY, Texas — Technology and records staff recommended that the Katy ISD Board approve a districtwide expansion of its current Softdocs electronic content management (ECM) platform using project savings from Proposition B of the 2021 bond authorization. Carrie Rampelli and IT operations staff described a multi‑year implementation that would take the district beyond current student‑records usage to automate roughly 100 existing manual or paper workflows (forms, approvals, records retention), add enterprise electronic signatures, version control, intelligent document processing and centralized retention policies. Key points: - Scope and funding: The request covers implementation services, necessary hardware and five years of licensing and maintenance; staff estimated a total cost of approximately $1.8 million to be drawn from underspending and project savings in Proposition B of the 2021 bond. - Expected benefits: Staff said the expanded ECM would reduce manual labor, cut paper and storage costs, improve accuracy and speed approvals (for example, hiring and purchasing workflows), and reduce risks associated with paper retention and ad hoc digital records. - Implementation plan: The district proposes a staged, five‑year rollout that would implement core functions first and then add workflows and integrations over time; staff said they will use implementation partners to avoid overburdening current IT staff. Trustees asked about ongoing annual costs after the five‑year rollout and about the license cost now borne in the maintenance budget; staff said current maintenance is roughly $135,000 per year and that ongoing license/maintenance costs after the initial five‑year implementation would be covered from normal technology operating funds. Why it matters: Automating high‑volume, paper‑based administrative workflows can produce efficiency gains across a large district and reduce recurring personnel and physical‑storage costs, especially in a growing district that handles many recurring forms and records.