Plano ISD outlines website transition: new vendor, June launch target and large-scale page migration

Plano ISD officials updated trustees on a planned district website transition at the Feb. 4 meeting, outlining reasons for replacing the current Blackboard platform, a vendor selection process and a phased rollout the district hopes to complete over the summer.

Deputy Superintendent Celinda Freeman introduced Leslie Range Stanton and Lan Hardy to present project goals tied to the district improvement plan (pillar 4) and user research findings. Stanton described a stakeholder survey that found users most often visit the site for academic calendars, events and parent resources and that navigation and broken links were common concerns.

Project timeline and milestones

- Vendor and timeline: After a 2024 RFP the district selected FinalSight as the new vendor. Presenters said the district will finalize and launch the new site in June 2025 and begin training identified staff in July, with a district goal to have sites launched by 08/01/2025.

- Content migration: Presenters described a large content migration and quality‑assurance effort. Responses during Q&A cited different page counts: one presenter noted "68,000 pages will have to be manually checked" while other remarks and materials referenced approximately 30,000 pages; presenters clarified the migration will prioritize required statutory materials while snapshots or archives will be retained for older content.

- Training and governance: The district will centralize migration work in communications during the cutover window, provide ongoing training for campus and department editors, and use a principal advisory group and focus groups to inform templates and staff workflows.

Board questions and responses

Trustees asked whether students could assist with QA and whether archives would be lost. Presenters said at least one student from Academy High School has provided feedback and that a snapshot of the current website (and public archives like the Wayback Machine) will be retained; required statutory information will be migrated.

Why this matters

A large-scale site migration affects how parents and staff access calendars, Skyward and other services; the board sought assurance that navigation and accessibility issues would be addressed and that training and governance were in place to sustain updated content after launch.

What’s next

District staff will continue design reviews, finalize school templates in spring, begin migration, and provide weekly updates to board staff; training for campus editors will start in July.