Student Information System for K-12

PowerSchool and Infinite Campus are mature K-12 SIS platforms with deep state-reporting integration and per-student pricing ($8-15/student/year typically with annual increases). OpenEduCat is open-source under LGPLv3 with no per-student cost, self-hostable for state-privacy-law compliance, and consolidates SIS, gradebook, library, lunch, and transportation in one platform. Districts that prioritize self-hosting, data ownership, and ERP unification migrate; districts deeply invested in PowerSchool ecosystem (Performance Matters, Naviance integration) often stay until contract renewal. Economic break-even is around 5,000-10,000 students.

Yes. Self-hosted on district infrastructure, the district remains the FERPA data controller — there is no third-party data processor in the critical path. Role-based access satisfies FERPA's "school official with legitimate educational interest" standard; immutable audit logs satisfy disclosure-tracking requirements; directory-information controls handle the FERPA opt-out workflow. COPPA (under-13 students): no external behavioural tracking, parent consent at enrollment, and deletion rights honoured. Many state attorney general FERPA guidance prefers self-hosted deployments for K-12.

Yes. ADA (Average Daily Attendance) and ADM (Average Daily Membership) report templates pre-configured for Texas TSDS, California CALPADS, Tennessee EIS, New York SIRS, Florida SUMS, Illinois SIS, Pennsylvania PIMS, and other state formats. Ed-Fi 3.x and 4.x API endpoints support state LDS submission where required. State reporting submission formats export one-click — district attendance clerks no longer reconstruct ADA from daily totals in Excel.

Yes. IEP and 504 accommodations (extended time, alternate format, reduced item count, scribe support, preferred seating) flag at the student level and apply automatically across attendance, gradebook, and assessment workflows. ELL designation triggers language-support workflows and ESSA Title III reporting. Integrates with Frontline IEP Direct, SEAS, or runs IEP records natively. Special education case managers see a unified accommodation log per student per quarter — accommodations actually apply, not just exist on paper IEPs.

Typical 5,000-student district deployment runs 3-6 months end-to-end: 6-10 weeks for data migration from existing SIS (students, staff, courses, schedules, attendance history, grade archives, IEP records), 4-6 weeks for configuration (grading scales, attendance rules, state reporting templates), 4 weeks parallel run with existing SIS, and cutover at the start of an academic year. Smaller districts (under 1,500 students) can go live in 8-12 weeks total. Multi-school district mode for very large districts rolls out building-by-building over 6-18 months.