Education Matters US

Non-electronic documents will take longer. These would require the use of a scanner, which can be purchased for under $50. The manpower requirements involve scanning the document first and then following the steps for an electronic document. A single document can be done in under a minute.

Both of these steps could be done on a going forward basis. The older documents could be placed on the Internet over several months as time permits. Volunteers, if desired, could do the scanning to speed up this process. The process should reserve the copy to the Internet as a Staff Function. That way you maintain security and consistency of the system.

To accomplish this there are a few steps that need to be taken. I will outline them below:

1. The Webmaster has to setup an FTP directory on the web server. This should be read only for the public and staff. Approximate time to setup would be 30 minutes to an hour.
2. Setup security for a limited number of staff members to have write access to the FTP directory. This can be done via an FTP program or preferably a network share. Approximate time to setup would be 1 to 2 hours depending on the number of people who would need this ability.
3. Download and install Cute PDF on the computers given write access to the FTP site. Approximate time to setup on each computer is less than 15 minutes. The links are specified below:
       Download Cute PDF
       Download Converter
4. Setup a process for ensuring privacy issues are maintained with the
   electronics documents.

I would also recommend the following as well:

1. Sub-directories under the FTP site to categorize the documents
2. Set up a default header or footer on all electronic documents that include the date and time it was last updated.

This is a low cost, but very effective way to put documents online. It will help build trust again to the community.

As the Board of Education, you will be telling the community, that we want your scrutiny. We want you to see how District 46 is operated. We want you to judge for yourself how we as a board are doing and how the District Administration is doing. We want you to see how we spend your money.

I know there are some that will resist this idea. They will be afraid of micromanagement. To those, I say, “You have that now.” Anyone who wants to micromanage can FOIA any document they wish now. They already have that opportunity, though few take advantage of it. With the ease of getting the documentation there will probably be a spike in micromanagement. I believe that as you are open with the community they will be able to see and trust you again. This will subside and the trust gained will be immense.

Another argument may be that FOIA requests now bring in a few dollars to the District. I don’t believe that making a copy of a document now can be done for 20 cents per page. Yes, the copying is minimal, but how much time has to go into finding the documents? How much time does it take to mark out privacy items? Privacy issues will still need to be handled appropriately as mentioned above. How much easier is that to handle electronically than by hand?