Agency of Education cites lessons from eFinance rollout as uniform chart of accounts achieves near‑universal use

At a March meeting of the House Energy and Digital Infrastructure Committee, Agency of Education officials summarized the history and current status of the statewide school enterprise resource planning project known as SSDMS and the eFinance contract, and said the Uniform Chart of Accounts has delivered most statewide data comparability benefits even though the statewide ERP rollout stalled.

The presentation, led by Ted Gates, education finance manager at the Agency of Education (AOE), said the legislature originally mandated a single statewide system in 2018 but rescinded mandatory implementation in 2023. “Adopting the uniform chart of accounts kind of got us to the 1‑yard line in terms of consistency and comparability and better quality of data,” Gates said, adding that the software choice was secondary to achieving a common coding standard.

AOE officials told the committee that roughly 54 school districts exist in Vermont; 21 initially converted to PowerSchool eFinance, two later dropped off after the mandate was lifted and 19 remain on eFinance (about 35–40 percent of districts). Gates said the PowerSchool contract is currently under extension and expires in two years; AOE must decide whether to reprocure, extend, or end the contract.

Why it matters: the Uniform Chart of Accounts (UCOA) standardizes expenditure and revenue segment codes across districts, enabling the agency to crosswalk and compare submitted data even when districts use different accounting systems. The UCOA adoption, AOE staff said, enables the agency to produce uniform statewide data for reporting and analysis even when districts do not all use the same ERP.

History and rollout: AOE described how an RFP produced a single statewide contract with PowerSchool for eFinance. Early rounds of implementation were staggered beginning in 2018 and many districts opted for later rounds. Districts reported productivity losses, conversion frustrations and limited advantages over existing systems, which—combined with UCOA adoption—reduced support for a mandatory statewide ERP. A path‑forward group of business managers and AOE representatives recommended making SSDMS voluntary; the legislature acted on that recommendation in 2023.

Benefits and remaining value: AOE staff said central contract management creates a single vendor relationship and that, for eFinance users, the agency can access an operational data store (ODS) to “pull” data in real time. Gates said eFinance users also formed a governance group that identified system enhancements and shared best practices. Staff noted that, even for districts not on eFinance, the agency receives district accounting extracts and uses a crosswalk process to convert reported data to the UCOA so AOE receives consistent statewide figures.

Challenges: AOE described a split data‑collection landscape—roughly 40 percent on eFinance, 60 percent not—which creates two separate channels for collecting finance data and adds time and technical complexity. Even among eFinance users, districts implement modules and features differently, so the agency often must write multiple queries against the ODS to assemble comparable data. Gates also said ongoing vendor support and response times have been inconsistent and that the state’s bargaining leverage over vendor prioritization has lessened since the system became voluntary.

Costs and contract status: Committee members asked about total contract costs. Staff recalled the initially chosen contract was in the multi‑million‑dollar range (a multi‑year award—Gates recalled about $5 million for five years in committee discussion) and that AOE later added funding for extra services and training; Gates said additional amounts paid were “not quite $2 million” in total added services but did not provide a single consolidated total at the meeting. The PowerSchool eFinance contract is under a two‑year extension that Gates said will expire in two years, at which point the state will need to decide whether to reprocure or change course.

Agency follow‑up and next steps: AOE staff described a standing committee with school business managers that meets to resolve UCOA coding issues and noted ongoing efforts to improve data validation and training. Gates said future system planning should be aligned with any education governance reforms and cautioned that any large conversion requires long lead times and extensive user engagement.

Ending: Committee members asked for more documentation of costs, technical issues, and the AOE’s current list of projects with Agency of Digital Services (ADS); staff said they would provide follow‑up materials and reports to the committee.