OPI says data modernization underway; superintendent adds a data and IT projects coordinator

Superintendent Susie Hedalen told the Joint Appropriations Subcommittee on Education that the Office of Public Instruction is continuing work on a multi-year data modernization effort and has added staff to help drive technical and policy work needed to get more useful, statewide education data.

"We do have a Thursday reoccurring meeting with the PowerSchool team which includes experts from OPI and PowerSchool," Hedalen said, describing internal coordination and steps to improve the agency's data dictionary and dashboard capabilities. Hedalen said the agency is examining which data points are already being collected, which are not and where technical or policy barriers prevent broader use of the information.

Hedalen introduced Lucas Roussey (spelled in the transcript) as the new data and IT projects coordinator in the superintendent's office. "He's going to be our data and IT projects coordinator ... to help support and collaborate with the expert team at OPI to ensure that we can gain momentum and be a collaborative partner and head in the right direction on this work," she said.

What OPI reported

- Scope and limits: Hedalen said the PowerSchool purchase and configuration will permit richer dashboards but does not automatically solve all integration problems because Montana districts use multiple student information systems. That leads to repetitive data entry for districts and multiple portals for similar program reporting (for example, CTE/Carl Perkins, advanced opportunities and grant financial reporting), she said.

- Opt-in capabilities and participation: Hedalen and Nicole Thuot said some functionality (for example, grade integration used by early-warning systems) is currently available only to districts that have purchased and opted into specific PowerSchool modules. Thuot said the agency currently collects grades only for schools that opted into the early-warning package; that opt-in status limits statewide comparability today.

- Data privacy and statutory questions: Chair Beatty asked whether the opt-in nature of particular programs is a statutory requirement or an administrative choice. Hedalen and staff said they would follow up with details, including whether statutory changes are needed to collect specific data at scale. Chair Beatty also urged the agency to identify any statutory limitations quickly if they will require legislation.

Committee requests and funding questions

Members asked OPI to identify any additional near-term funding that would be needed to complete the PowerSchool implementation or to modify the contract to gain needed capabilities. Chair Beatty said he would favor a decision package to support OPI's data modernization work and asked for cost estimates to be available before executive action; he asked for a preliminary assessment as soon as feasible and indicated mid-February as a planning milestone for the subcommittee.

Hedalen said the procurement does not fully eliminate data-entry repetition because the state must still integrate records from districts using other student information systems. She told the committee she wants to limit additional burdens on district clerks and administrators while improving the statewide ability to produce timely analytics and better support early-warning and other outcome-focused tools.

Ending

Legislators asked for a short list of additional budget needs or statutory changes that might be necessary to deliver a single, reliable statewide data set and for a fund-balance projection of a facility and technology special-revenue account. OPI agreed to follow up with requested material and to post the technical slide deck for committee review.