District of Columbia Awards Smart Access and Attendance Tracking Contract to Access411

July 23, 2009 - PRLog -- YORK, PENNSYLVANIA – Access411 announced that it has been awarded the Smart Access and Attendance Tracking (SAAT) contract by the Office of the Chief Technology Officer (OCTO) within the District of Columbia Government. The contract calls for all District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) to receive the Comprehensive, Attendance, Administration, and Security System (CAASS). The purpose of the contract is to expand upon the ten existing CAASS sites and implement CAASS into the remaining DCPS schools throughout the course of the contract. The system provides access control at the entries and exits of the schools, student attendance and student discipline management functions. The new contract provides an upgraded system with new cost savings and security features for the schools.

Under the SAAT project, each student will scan their DC OneCard each morning upon entry, ensuring that only the enrolled students are in the facility and prohibiting unauthorized persons from having access to the students. In addition, CAASS automates the attendance collection process so that the attendance data is automatically transferred to DC STARS (DC’s Student Information System), which in turn helps to provide more accurate attendance data. In addition to the SAAT project, last year Access411 was awarded the contract for the production of the DC OneCards, which is the District of Columbia’s initiative to provide all DC residents and those working in DC Government buildings, a common ID that works within all DC Government agencies. Schools will require students to have their DC OneCard on their person, displayed around their neck, and they will scan their OneCard in all areas CAASS is used. Schools will be able to scan students into school, into a class, track and catch hall walkers with the CAASS handheld application, and even for after school events.

William Morrison, President and CEO said, “With the economy struggling and budgets shrinking for schools, it’s hard for everyone to keep focused on what aspects are most important in schools. But DC is focused and realizes how important school safety is. We are very excited to be continuing our decade long relationship with DCPS and building on our relationship with OCTO. Even within these hard times we are going through, Access411 will remain focused on providing safe and secure learning environments for students and staff, and we look forward to helping DCPS schools become safer.” Features of the CAASS System include:

Increased Security
 Consolidation of independent servers that reside in school facilities to a centralized server. This adds an important layer of security removing the risk of stolen private student information. This also removes potential points of failure for the multiple, independent servers.
 New mobile carts for the system feature locking cabinets. And since storage space is always limited in school facilities, the new carts are smaller so they may fit into smaller storage spaces.
 The new Visitor Pass Plus component will scan and collect all visitor information and enable schools to verify if an adult has authorization to remove a student from the facility. This will deter and prevent unauthorized persons from entering the school.

Decreased Costs
 Laptop computers will replace desktop units and monitors which lower the cost of hardware acquisition and maintenance.
 The new centralized server will replace the upkeep and maintenance on all local servers that reside in individual schools.
 The new web-based application will require no local software installation on the school personnel’s computers.
 Since hardware theft is a primary concern, new locking cabinets on carts will assist with loss prevention initiatives.
 New late pass printers will have an automatic cutting feature, like a receipt at a check out stand, in lieu of the old tear-off sheets. This will reduce wear and tear on the printers, jamming and breaking which adds to the cost savings.

Implementations of CAASS Systems have already begun and will continue through the summer. There will be approximately 25 additional schools added this summer to the existing ten schools, making up phase 1 of the rollout. The veteran CAASS schools are planning to begin using CAASS day 1 of school, while the schools that are new to CAASS will be in training in August and September, and are scheduled to go live in the early fall. Continued Morrison, “We will be working very closely with DCPS and OCTO to strategically rollout CAASS in a structured manor so that all schools are well informed and the staff is sufficiently trained, to guarantee a successful rollout. Our team believes that the schools will be very happy with CAASS and it will allow the educators to spend more time teaching and less time on administrative tasks such as writing late passes and taking attendance while making school facilities a safer place for students.”

About the SAAT Contract
The SAAT contract is a five year contract that calls for the CAASS System to be rolled out to schools in phases. Phase 1 will be this year and calls for approximately 35 schools. Phase 2 contains the remaining DCPS schools to be rolled out over the remaining 4 years of the contract.

About Access411
Access411 provides software solutions and services, focusing exclusively on the needs of K-12 schools. Access411 offers a turnkey solution named Comprehensive, Attendance, Administration, and Security System (CAASS), that includes software, hardware, installation, training, and ongoing customer support. CAASS provides solutions to many of the challenges facing educators today, such as attendance, building and cafeteria access control, weapons detection, textbook management, and student information management and analysis. More then 500,000 students use the CAASS solution daily. Access411’s breadth of experience spans from large school districts like New York City Public Schools to small school districts like Camden, NJ. For more information, visit the company’s website at www.access411.com.

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Access411, the makers of the CAASS System, has the solutions and Best Practices to remedy the challenges facing the school safety programs of today.