D11 advances plan to expand PowerSchool access and build a modern K‑12 ERP; board to review contract modification

District 11 administrators and PowerSchool representatives presented an enterprise partnership proposal at the board’s Nov. 13 work session that would move the district toward a modernized, K‑12–focused enterprise resource planning system and wider use of PowerSchool’s product ecosystem.

Chief Odom said the district paused a PeopleSoft replacement RFP after staff concluded their vision for a modern, connected ERP had changed and that PowerSchool — a vendor already under contract — was one of the top‑ranked firms in the prior solicitation. "We have canceled the RFP because what we had is changed," Chief Odom said, introducing the PowerSchool team.

PowerSchool’s Shivani Stone described a data‑integration vision she called "connected intelligence," arguing that districts can now link attendance, assessments, behavior, staffing, finance and other data to personalize instruction and target interventions. "There is 170,955 data points and counting that we have about a single student," Stone said, saying that consolidating data could allow schools to identify tailored supports faster.

The vendor proposed a multi‑year, renewable enterprise agreement that would give D11 access to a wider set of PowerSchool products (the district currently uses roughly 35% of PowerSchool’s portfolio, presenters said), fixed implementation pricing and early access to new modules developed by PowerSchool. Staff said the district could use $3 million previously set aside for ERP migration and would seek a budget modification to cover the remaining delta, which administrators described in the presentation as roughly $220,000 in order‑of‑magnitude.

Board members pressed presenters on key risks: data privacy and AI safeguards, the district’s ability to staff a larger rollout, contract remedies for missed deliverables and whether D11 would receive any intellectual property or royalty benefits if subject‑matter expertise from the district informed a product sold to other customers. PowerSchool said it uses a mix of traditional analytics and selected generative AI partners (for example, Azure OpenAI) inside a ‘‘walled garden’’ and that districts retain ownership of their data. "D11 data remains within D11," a PowerSchool representative said.

Directors asked that performance milestones, remedies and oversight be written into contract language. D11 staff recommended quarterly status updates to the board; PowerSchool agreed to regular reporting and said the company runs beta tests with district users and maintains teacher champion groups for user feedback.

Administrators said no final contract vote was taken at the work session; instead, staff will return to the board with a negotiated contract modification and the formal budget request for approval. The presentation materials and slides modeled several adoption scenarios and included a contingency allowance district staff described as roughly 30% to cover unknowns.

Next steps: D11 staff will negotiate contract terms and bring a contract modification and budget item to a future board meeting. Administrators said they would include deliverables and timelines in the contract and provide status updates to the board on a regular cadence.

Why it matters: The proposal repurposes funds already set aside for an ERP migration, seeks a modest near‑term budget supplement, and would increase the district’s technical dependence on a single vendor while promising deeper data integration, AI tools and district‑level reporting that administrators say could help target resources and interventions more precisely.