Pub. 6 2016-2017 Issue 2

16 A Performance Audit of USBE’s Aspire Student Information System T he Public EducationAppropriations Subcommittee requested this audit in response to the Free Market Protection and Privatization Board’s study, released in January 2015. The audit seeks to provide information to the Legislature and the Utah State Board of Education (USBE) on the costs involved in privatizing the Aspire student information system (SIS). Chapter II Aspire Cost About $1.1 Million in FY 2016 Costs Attributed to Aspire Range From $5 to $7 per Student. It cost USBE approximately $1.1 million to maintain Aspire in fiscal year 2016. Ninety-seven percent of these costs were comprised of salary and benefits for employees. In 2017, these costs are estimated to drop, as three of seven Aspire programmers have been reassigned on a permanent basis. The 2017 Aspire cost then drops to about $860,000, or $5 per student. USBE also hosts, or stores, the data for 81 percent of Aspire LEAs, at $0.27 per student. Most of Aspire’s Functionality is Necessary for State Reporting. Despite concerns that Aspire is being developed beyond the necessary requirements of state reporting, our analysis found that 87 percent of Aspire functionality is necessary to fulfill state reporting. Chapter III LEA Cost to Transition from Aspire Would Be Significant Transition Costs Could Be Prohibitive for Charter Schools and Small School Districts. We estimate that first year transition costs from Aspire to a private SIS vendor would be between $3.8 and $8.1 million, or $23 to $49 per student. These estimates are designed to be as fiscally conservative as possible.We further estimate the ongoing costs would be between $2.6 and $2.8 million per year, or $16 to $17 per student. Aspire LEAs Have Fewer Students Of 149 LEAs in Utah, 100 of them (67 percent) use Aspire. Conversely, in 2017, of 644,678 students in Utah public schools, just 165,715 (26 percent) attend an LEA that uses Aspire. Most LEAs using Aspire are charter schools or smaller districts. Chapter IV Privatization Has Pros and Cons Varying Degrees of Privatization Have Different Consequences. Different types and levels of privatization could potentially be used for student information systems in Utah. Options range from maintaining the status quo, to a fee for Aspire services, to elimination of the Aspire program completely. We recommend that USBE use the information presented in this audit report to determine what level of privatization is appropriate given increased costs. Chapter V USBE Has Appropriately Waited to Consider Privatization USBE Is Waiting for More Information from the Audit. Based on the request for a legislative audit, USBE chose to wait for the detail in this audit report before making an informed choice on what level of privatization, if any, should be implemented. In our opinion, USBE’s delay was appropriate. Privatization Board Report Appears Incomplete. Our review found that the 2015 privatization board report did not fully consider all statutorily required elements of privatization, and is therefore an incomplete analysis. We also found that the privatization board did not identify cost savings. BY LEGISLATIVE AUDITOR’S OFFICE