Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction decision on statewide student information system will negatively impact 90 percent of schools and Wisconsin economy.

Skyward, Inc., an industry leading K-12 school administration software provider serving 50 percent of Wisconsin school districts, intends to challenge the decision by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction on its selection for the Statewide Student Information System provider. Given that the selected vendor is in use only by 10 percent of Wisconsin school districts, this decision will force the remaining 90 percent to migrate to the selected system, negatively impacting their already strained budgets.

We believe the evaluation process followed by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction was flawed. Eleventh-hour modifications to the evaluation process clearly favored the selected vendor and disadvantaged Skyward.

“Throughout this process, all we wanted was a fair and impartial evaluation that was in the best interest of Wisconsin school districts,” said Cliff King, CEO of Skyward. “Based on what we know today, it is only prudent on behalf of our customers, employees and the taxpayers of Wisconsin that we contest this decision.”

As the current provider for 50 percent of Wisconsin school districts, Skyward is proven to meet the needs of Wisconsin districts and maintains a greater than 99 percent retention rate, signifying the confidence Wisconsin school districts have in Skyward’s ability to provide them the strongest solution.

As the current provider for the two largest statewide deployments in the United States, Skyward has served Washington since 2001 and Texas since 2011. Texas, a state clearly open for business, included oversight by the federal government where the Texas Education Agency’s decision highlighted Skyward’s superior functionality and cost effectiveness. Their evaluation eliminated the vendor chosen for Wisconsin early in the process.

Currently, Skyward maintains more than 280 employees in three offices across Wisconsin. In spite of this decision, Skyward anticipates strong continued growth across the U.S. and internationally.

About Skyward

Skyward is a leading provider of K-12 school administrative software that surpasses districts’ needs in state reporting, improves operational capabilities, and opens communication between schools and families. Today, the Skyward School Management System™ is used in more than 1,600 school districts worldwide, ranging from districts with as few as 50 students to statewide implementations supporting more than 1,000,000 students. Founded in 1980, Skyward serves school districts with its integrated student, finance, and human resources suite of products and is proudly made and supported in the United States. To learn more, visit www.skyward.com.