March 12, 2025 • 24 mins
The salient point of this podcast revolves around the significant advancements in student safety facilitated by custom-developed applications within the Cobb County School District, particularly highlighting the contributions of the coding staff led by Director of Information Systems, Mr. Ryan Pynes. Through innovative tools such as GoSafe, an elementary student dismissal system, and Passport, a comprehensive field trip management application, the district has markedly enhanced both the physical safety of students and the efficiency of administrative processes. These applications not only streamline communication between parents and schools but also provide a robust framework for safeguarding sensitive student data, ensuring that the highest standards of security are maintained. Mr. Pynes elaborates on the importance of customizing solutions to meet specific district needs, emphasizing that the district's commitment to student success is paramount. Ultimately, this episode serves to illuminate the critical role technology plays in fostering a secure and conducive educational environment within Cobb County Schools.
Guest: Ryan Pynes, Director of Information Systems
Chapters:
- 00:12 - Introduction to the Inside Scoop
- 03:42 - Understanding Cobb Schools' Information Systems
- 07:34 - Student Safety Software Development
- 11:20 - The Development of School Dismissal Solutions
- 16:50 - Transition to Parent Communication
- 20:51 - Improving Student Success through Data and Communication
Useful links from the podcast:
Podcast Home:
https://the-inside-scoop.captivate.fm/
Cobb Schools on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/@TheRealCobbSchools
Give us a review:
https://www.podchaser.com/TheInsideScoop
Here's the link to let us know what you'd like to hear:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/VYTRCLG
Cobb Sports Podcast:
https://cobb-sports.captivate.fm/episodes
The Cobb County School District:
https://www.cobbk12.org
Takeaways:
- The Cobb County School District prioritizes student safety through innovative applications developed by its coding staff.
- Ryan Pynes, the Director of Information Systems, emphasizes the importance of data protection and security within the district.
- The GoSafe application enhances student dismissal processes, promoting accountability and efficiency during school dismissals.
- Passport is an evolved field trip management system designed to streamline student tracking during school excursions.
- Cobb Schools aim to eliminate paper forms to ensure data safety and improve parent experiences.
- The implementation of a red, yellow, green alert system assists educators in monitoring student progress toward graduation.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Did you know that our studentsare safer thanks to apps developed
by our very own coding staff?
We're looking into it on thisedition of the Inside Scoop.
Hello and welcome back toanother episode of the Inside Scoop.
I'm David Owen.
As always, please give us alike, subscribe and share this podcast
(00:21):
if you learned something newor helpful today.
Cobb Schools has a longhistory of excellence in a variety
of areas.
Did you know one of thoseareas is custom programming or coding
to meet the needs of ourstudents, families and staff?
That's true.
Filling us in today is ourDirector of Information Systems,
Mr.
Ryan Pines.
(00:42):
Ryan, welcome to the podcast.
Thanks for having me on.
I'm honored to be here.
Can you tell us just a littlebit for those who don't necessarily
know what information systems is?
Sure.
Can you give us some insighton what that means in Cobb's.
Yeah.
So trying to boil it down to asimple one liner.
We are basically asinformation systems, responsible
(01:04):
for every computer basedenterprise system that houses data
of any type within the district.
So it's not just student data,but it's also our business services
data.
So finance, hr, payroll, allof those things.
We are responsible forcollecting and securing that data
(01:25):
within systems.
Okay.
So when we register ourstudents for school, there's a lot
of data or personal information.
That's right.
That we hand over to theschool district.
And so your job or yourdepartment's job is protecting that.
That's correct.
That's, you know, as far as astudent record is concerned, that's
(01:46):
the starting point when aparent decides they, you know, want
their student to attend Cobbschools during online registration
is when we first get theirstudents and their families information.
So we just did a podcast aboutstudents leveling up to kindergarten.
And a great podcast, by theway, if you got a kid in that category,
(02:10):
you definitely want to want towatch that.
But one of the things about itis the registration process does
ask for quite a bit of information.
I know there are federal lawsthat require protecting that data.
Right.
And of course, just an ethicalapproach to life would say we want
to be trustworthy.
(02:32):
How much?
I mean, Cobb Schools is notbrand new.
And I think about all thestudents that have come through the
doors of Cobb schools.
That's a lot of data we'retalking about.
It really is.
So first of all, we collect.
Most everything we collect ismandated by the state.
We are required to report datato the state.
(02:52):
So most everything that wecollect is either the Georgia Department
of Education says we must orit's something that we need in order
to educate a child.
And so it's actually not kindergarten.
We're doing pre K enrollmentsas well through online registration.
So it actually starts earlierfor parents who are interested in
taking advantage of the Cobbpre K pretty program.
(03:16):
So it's just a variety ofthings too.
Right.
So we do custom appdevelopment, I guess we'd call it.
What is the benefit?
Why are we doing that?
Why not just go to.
I don't know if it exists, butSchools R Us and purchase the best
(03:36):
fit for the Cobb schooldistrict, for whatever it may be,
whatever the need is.
So I really have to start with.
With the environment that isCobb county school district.
The superintendent has made ita priority to invest in our people.
We do that through ourbudgeting and giving raises when
(03:58):
the money is there.
But also one of the thingsthat he says on a routine basis is
we want to make Cobb the bestplace to teach, lead and learn.
Oh, yeah.
So we have attracted the bestof the best in Cobb County.
We have professionals, nomatter what the specific area is.
I truly believe, and I've beenhere since 1998, that we have the
(04:22):
best of the best in everypossible area that you could think
of.
And so because of that, whenthere are challenges or issues that
arise, those very highlyprofessional people don't always
have a solution that can besuited with a software program that
already exists.
(04:43):
So I always, when we get intothe conversations with those leaders,
I ask them, is there somethingout there that fits your need perfectly?
If so, and you have the moneyto do it, go buy that.
But if you don't and yourequire customization, let's talk
and see what we can do.
And you know, more and morethese days and the last 10 to 15
(05:05):
years, that has come up moreand more that, no, we really need
a special solution.
We found something.
We like pieces of it.
But we really would like yourteam to come in and develop us a
custom solution from theground up.
That's exactly what we need.
Yeah.
It's always nice when you canfind that perfect fit.
I would imagine that you guysget involved in helping to review.
(05:27):
Absolutely.
Softwares for.
We are part of that approvalsoftware process where we vet the.
The potential vendor as acompany and also the product that
they're offering to make surethat it meets our standards for data
security and privacy and theirpractices of how they're going to
guarantee they keep our data safe.
(05:50):
Yeah.
So probably the biggest appthat parents would be aware of would
be CTLs.
Did your team get involved inthat development?
So we were not directlyinvolved in the development of that
product, but we did work withthe vendor because CTLS is our learning
(06:10):
management system now and itis a part of the student information
system ecosystem, so to speak.
So we were.
That summer of COVID it was a.
I always think about that.
Of course they started theirwork before that, but that summer
really set into high gear.
We must be prepared to teachstudents online when August comes
(06:34):
around because we knew thatwas very likely.
And so while we didn't developthe software, we were heavily involved
with the vendor and of course,all of the data that they needed
to roll out that platform, allthat data came from us and our data
warehouse and all of ouronline systems.
And so you guys probably hadto work out how they access our data,
(06:56):
how our data is protected andall of that.
And it comes back as well.
You know, teachers createassignments within ctls and then
we take those assignments,those graded assignments and put
them back in our synergy grade book.
So all of those kind of dataintegrations had to be figured out
very quickly while the vendoris also building the platform at
(07:18):
the same time.
It was a hectic two months.
Yes, I think we all rememberit and want to forget it, right?
Absolutely.
So why don't you tell us whatsoftware products you guys have developed
and how that might meet that criterion.
Yeah.
So we've talked in the pastabout different types of student
(07:39):
safety.
And so the first obvious oneis physical safety.
And so a couple that we'vedeveloped that specifically address
that is our Go Safe.
It's a elementary schoolstudent dismissal system that what
it does more than anything isgive some accountability to when
was, when did a student stepoff of campus?
(08:01):
Whether that was on a schoolbus or a car in car line or released
to an after school program ofsome kind.
Wasn't that developed orwasn't that the brainchild of a principal
somewhere?
Yes.
You know, we had one of ourprincipals that really kicked off
(08:22):
that project and brought theimportance of it home.
It was an idea that we had hadinternally but hadn't moved on.
It was in the back of my mind.
And I got a call one day fromWilliam Dryden, who was the principal
at Fry at the time.
And he's like, he said, ryan,you know, my biggest concern is that,
(08:42):
you know, the superintendent,it's student safety is first and
foremost on his mind.
So that it's also mine.
I want to make sure that weknow and we can look back through
data to know that a studentsafely left our campus.
And how did that Happen downto the second.
When did that happen?
And so he initially wanted topurchase something else.
(09:06):
And having had this idearolling around in my brain for a
while, I was like, man, Iwould really love for you to be partners
with us in developingsomething that every elementary school
could use for their dismissal process.
And, you know, as a byproductof that, he wanted to make sure that,
you know, his hallways were ascalm as possible during that time.
(09:28):
And if there was a way to makethe car line itself move more efficiently.
So not necessarily, you know,faster isn't always better, but if
it's more orderly and is moreefficient, then there's real value
in that.
Yeah, I.
First of all, anybody who'sbeen in the hallway of an elementary
school that doesn't have thisapp knows what we're talking about.
(09:49):
The noise level gets really high.
A lot of the approaches or themethods used previously were teachers
and administrators with walkietalkies that are squawking all the
time.
Exactly.
And this brought an element ofcalm to the teacher.
Right.
It did.
Every elementary school thatwe've implemented this, which is
(10:09):
all but like three or fournow, they all say the same thing.
Okay.
It has really just broughtmore order.
They all had their goodprocesses, but it took any type of,
you know, extra noise, walkietalkies out of that process.
And it's all done with, youknow, screens and scanning things
(10:29):
and having students moveorderly to whatever mode of transportation
is taking them away from campus.
And they.
I've also heard it said, I hada conversation with William Dryden
at the time, and he wastelling me that one of the things
that he really takes comfortin is that accountability.
(10:51):
That's right.
That you can't just call theoffice five minutes before dismissal
and have a kid go in adifferent car or whatever.
Yeah.
For parents, that has been ahuge benefit that they no longer
have to do the handwrittennote that, hey, my kid is normally
a bus rider, but today I'mgonna pick him up.
Now there's a parent facingapp where they can go in and change
(11:14):
today's dismissal, and theycan do it up to a certain time online.
And it automatically shows upon the teacher's screen right before
they dismiss the students.
That is a nice thing.
I have witnessed it in action.
And it's just incrediblysleek, smooth.
I think they even said the carline goes faster.
(11:36):
Absolutely.
We have data to prove that, bythe way.
Okay.
Yeah, it's significantlyfaster, about 20% on average.
Now that's go safe.
You've also Got is it pass passport?
Okay, tell us what passport is.
So initially, years and yearsago, we developed the first version
of the field trip system,which was strictly a transportation
(11:57):
facing app.
It helped them schedule theirbus drivers in order to fulfill field
trips that schools wanted togo on.
Okay.
There was an event thathappened over a weekend where Mr.
Ragsdale said, hey, I'd liketo know who all is on this field
(12:18):
trip.
It was a specific area of townand there was no real issue.
But as.
As he will do, I want someinformation on this.
There were more than oneschool had sent students on this
field trip.
And so it took a while totrack down the principals to say,
hey, give me a list of allyour students that were there.
(12:38):
We're talking about a weekendor late night, some situation like
that.
And, you know, it got to acertain point that it.
We eventually got thatinformation from Mr.
Ragsdale, but it wasn't asfast as it should have been.
So the way he does things ishe turns to Sherry Hill and said,
let's fix this.
And so when Sherry Hill givesme a call, I like to make her happy.
(13:03):
And it's funny, when she'sspeaking to a room full of leaders
to leaders, she will say,don't turn to your left or right
and ask, who's going to help me?
We are the help.
You are the help.
So it was our job to make sure.
The charge that we had was weneed to make sure we know where every
student is at the district level.
(13:25):
The schools already know.
Their principals knew at that time.
But from a districtperspective, we need to, on a screen,
be able to pull up everystudent where they are right now
on a potential leg of a field trip.
Yeah, so that was the chargethat we had in developing the new
version of the field trip system.
So.
And I'm just picturing the olddays prior to this app.
(13:49):
Maybe it was a clipboard witha roster and pencil to check off.
Well, it started before thatthe school would send something home,
a piece of paper that says,we're wanting to go on this field
trip expecting the parent tofill in all this information that
we already have, student information.
So you're talking aboutfrustration on the parent's part.
(14:10):
You already know my student'sname and student ID and all these
things.
They're filling those things out.
They're sending that paperback to the school.
And so the school is thenproducing their roster.
And then if there's any typeof other approval that they need
to get from the parent at alater time, maybe Something changed
with the trip.
That's another piece of paper.
(14:30):
They get sent home, the parenthas to sign it.
Again, didn't I already saythat my kid could go?
Well, we added something new,waiver for.
Rock climbing or something.
So now every bit of thatprocess, from the entry of the field
trip information to theassignment of the bus driver, to
the authorization by theparent that their child can go on
(14:51):
this field trip is nowcompletely online.
Okay, and so there you're notonly serving the safety of the child,
but you are streamlining thatwhole permission form process for
the parents.
Correct.
And providing a layer ofaccountability on the trip itself.
That's right.
I'll share this one anecdote.
(15:12):
It was a trip not with Cobbschools, I'll be clear on that.
But there were four busloadsof teenagers going on this multi
state trip and they pulledover and everybody got lunch at the
fast food places and it's timeto get back on the buses.
Thought we had everybody andstart taking off in about 20 minutes.
(15:36):
Got a phone call saying, hey,you left one of your kids here, she
was in the bathroom.
So, you know, sure, it couldhave been a checklist and should
have been at that time, butthis is one of those things that
makes sure every child isaccounted for at every moment.
Of the trip, and particularlywhen we're talking about athletics,
(15:58):
because again, any trip that'staking students away from school
goes into this application.
So anytime an athletic teamhas a sporting event and they want
to take both the boys and thegirls basketball team to a specific
school and they're taking morethan one bus, we know which students
(16:19):
are on which bus.
So if you can imagine one ofthe buses has a flat tire or an issue
and maybe that bus of studentsis going to be late.
Through our system, someonefrom that's an adult on the field
trip could notify the correctparents that, hey, your student is
going to be late getting backto school because they know they're
(16:41):
on.
That particular bus, that isso incredibly important because as
parents, we're all constantlynervous and that is fantastic.
So, all right, so earlier whenwe were talking about go safe, you
you said almost all of theschools, but not all of the schools.
What can parents do to makesure that their school is using the
(17:03):
apps available to help maketheir students as safe as possible?
Yeah, so, I mean, we do leavea lot of the communication with parents
to our schools.
They know their communitiesbetter than we do.
So I would really urge parentsto talk to your school administrators
and just say, hey, we've heardabout this great tool that elementaries
(17:25):
have to be able to releasetheir students.
Have you guys thought about.
And again, if a principalhears that two, three, four times,
they're gonna feel.
Like that I need to pay attention.
That a majority has spoken somehow.
And so I would encourageparents to do that.
If you've heard this podcastand you like what this product can
(17:48):
offer, then I would encouragethem to reach out to their school
administration.
So I know we're talking aboutthat you've developed, you know,
99% for internal use only.
But is there any resource ofinformation where they can learn
more about it or is it justsimply contact the school and ask
(18:09):
what the thoughts are if theywant to know more?
So a lot of the informationthat is parent facing that we can
deliver as a district will beon our website.
We do have a specific studentand parents link on our district
website and so informationabout Parent View is there.
All of the custom apps that weproduce for parents live within Parent
(18:33):
View.
Okay.
Parents are already veryfamiliar with Parent View.
That's where they go to viewtheir students grades and schedules
and those things.
So we put anything that isparent facing in that same menu so
it's easy for them to find.
So those kind of things theycould find information on our website.
Other things like go safe, wedo leave that to the schools to communicate
(18:55):
with their parents becausethey may have a specific timeline
that they want their parentsto go in and set their dismissal
defaults.
So a certain maybe day or twobefore school or even if they want
to wait until a week or so toimplement Carline, they may tell
their parents wait until thento go in and set their options.
So when it makes sense, weallow the schools to do those parent
(19:19):
communications and thenanything that's general information
of where to find something, wedo try to put it on our district
website.
Well, this stuff is justphenomenal value.
There have been so manyapplications, no pun intended, where
it was evident, like what yousaid earlier.
I've already given this information.
Why am I doing it again?
(19:39):
So I'm glad that you guys aretackling this.
I'm sure the listeners areequally thankful that you're reducing
their workload as parents,that's a big obligation.
One of my points of emphasiswas to remove every bit of paper
that is still involved in akey process in the district.
And the first ones we reallywant to hit with that is anything
(20:02):
that goes to a parent.
And I feel like for the mostpart we've done that.
I realize there are stillMaybe some outliers, but that was
really a goal for me is, youknow, because paper with student
information on it, that is a threat.
Yeah.
Because that paper may or maynot make it home safely and then
back to school safely, and itmight have sensitive student information
(20:23):
on it.
So to me, that further ensuresthe safety of the data that's attached
to a student by making sure weget everything online absolutely
appropriately.
What other apps do you guyshave that you're particularly proud
of in terms of just, ingeneral, the charge of the school
(20:45):
district, keeping studentssafe, their data safe, and so forth.
Is there anything else thatyou might want to add?
So I feel like that once we'vedone everything we can to address
physical student safety andthen we've tackled the security of
their data that could be used,you know, to harm their identity,
the next thing that we thinkabout is, you know, it's the primary
(21:07):
charge of the district as awhole, which is student success.
The easiest way we can definestudent success is are they on track
to graduate?
That's kind of important.
It is, and you can't waituntil they failed at that in order
to address it.
So we developed a system,along with academics and Kelly McNabb
to come up with a very simplered, yellow, green alerting system
(21:33):
for every single student.
And that red, yellow, greenstatus indicates their threat or
success on their path towards graduation.
Wow.
So academics with Kelly, theycreated rubrics that determine what
causes a student status to goto yellow or red.
And of course, we have, like Imentioned, lots and lots of data,
(21:57):
historical data for thestudent and for the district as a
whole that we can pull from tofeed this system.
And it's something that wecreated in house.
The data stays in house.
And we're not paying a companymillions of dollars a year to have
developed and then maintain aproduct like that.
So you're giving, like, analert system to make sure, hey, you
(22:18):
need to pay attention becauseyou forgot to do this course or something
that's required.
The superintendent has toutedour improving graduation rates over
the years, and this tool, Ibelieve, has definitely contributed
to that, because you'relooking for ways to make sure as
best you can that a studentdoesn't fall through the cracks,
(22:39):
so to speak.
This is available to ourteachers, to counselors, to school
administrators.
They could easily see at anytime, any students that are in that
yellow or red status area andthen take action appropriately.
Well, thank you so much forcoming by and sharing all of these
(22:59):
nuances of what you do.
We really appreciate the workyou do behind the scenes, you don't
get accolades for what you do,but you do get maybe a feeling of
appreciation for not having torefill out forms.
You know, I've loved being here.
I've been here my entire career.
Our team, they're all veteransthat, you know, have opportunities
to go do other things.
But there's a clear purposehere at Cobb, and that helps make
(23:23):
the work itself more rewardingwhen you have that clear student
success as a goal.
And so it really is ourpleasure to do the work that we do.
And we're constantly lookingfor ways to improve, you know, the
things that our parents haveto deal with and certainly our staff
and students as well.
Well, Brian, again, thank youso much.
If you've gotten somethingfrom this, this podcast, learned
(23:46):
something new, I know I have.
Make sure you give us a likesubscribe and share it with a friend.
Thank you for listening tothis edition of the Inside Scoop,
a podcast produced by the CobbCounty School.
Did you know that our studentsare safer thanks to apps developed
by our very own coding staff?
We're looking into it on thisedition of the Inside Scoop.
Hello and welcome back toanother episode of the Inside Scoop.
I'm David Owen.
As always, please give us alike, subscribe and share this podcast
(00:21):
if you learned something newor helpful today.
Cobb Schools has a longhistory of excellence in a variety
of areas.
Did you know one of thoseareas is custom programming or coding
to meet the needs of ourstudents, families and staff?
That's true.
Filling us in today is ourDirector of Information Systems,
Mr.
Ryan Pines.
(00:42):
Ryan, welcome to the podcast.
Thanks for having me on.
I'm honored to be here.
Can you tell us just a littlebit for those who don't necessarily
know what information systems is?
Sure.
Can you give us some insighton what that means in Cobb's.
Yeah.
So trying to boil it down to asimple one liner.
We are basically asinformation systems, responsible
(01:04):
for every computer basedenterprise system that houses data
of any type within the district.
So it's not just student data,but it's also our business services
data.
So finance, hr, payroll, allof those things.
We are responsible forcollecting and securing that data
(01:25):
within systems.
Okay.
So when we register ourstudents for school, there's a lot
of data or personal information.
That's right.
That we hand over to theschool district.
And so your job or yourdepartment's job is protecting that.
That's correct.
That's, you know, as far as astudent record is concerned, that's
(01:46):
the starting point when aparent decides they, you know, want
their student to attend Cobbschools during online registration
is when we first get theirstudents and their families information.
So we just did a podcast aboutstudents leveling up to kindergarten.
And a great podcast, by theway, if you got a kid in that category,
(02:10):
you definitely want to want towatch that.
But one of the things about itis the registration process does
ask for quite a bit of information.
I know there are federal lawsthat require protecting that data.
Right.
And of course, just an ethicalapproach to life would say we want
to be trustworthy.
(02:32):
How much?
I mean, Cobb Schools is notbrand new.
And I think about all thestudents that have come through the
doors of Cobb schools.
That's a lot of data we'retalking about.
It really is.
So first of all, we collect.
Most everything we collect ismandated by the state.
We are required to report datato the state.
(02:52):
So most everything that wecollect is either the Georgia Department
of Education says we must orit's something that we need in order
to educate a child.
And so it's actually not kindergarten.
We're doing pre K enrollmentsas well through online registration.
So it actually starts earlierfor parents who are interested in
taking advantage of the Cobbpre K pretty program.
(03:16):
So it's just a variety ofthings too.
Right.
So we do custom appdevelopment, I guess we'd call it.
What is the benefit?
Why are we doing that?
Why not just go to.
I don't know if it exists, butSchools R Us and purchase the best
(03:36):
fit for the Cobb schooldistrict, for whatever it may be,
whatever the need is.
So I really have to start with.
With the environment that isCobb county school district.
The superintendent has made ita priority to invest in our people.
We do that through ourbudgeting and giving raises when
(03:58):
the money is there.
But also one of the thingsthat he says on a routine basis is
we want to make Cobb the bestplace to teach, lead and learn.
Oh, yeah.
So we have attracted the bestof the best in Cobb County.
We have professionals, nomatter what the specific area is.
I truly believe, and I've beenhere since 1998, that we have the
(04:22):
best of the best in everypossible area that you could think
of.
And so because of that, whenthere are challenges or issues that
arise, those very highlyprofessional people don't always
have a solution that can besuited with a software program that
already exists.
(04:43):
So I always, when we get intothe conversations with those leaders,
I ask them, is there somethingout there that fits your need perfectly?
If so, and you have the moneyto do it, go buy that.
But if you don't and yourequire customization, let's talk
and see what we can do.
And you know, more and morethese days and the last 10 to 15
(05:05):
years, that has come up moreand more that, no, we really need
a special solution.
We found something.
We like pieces of it.
But we really would like yourteam to come in and develop us a
custom solution from theground up.
That's exactly what we need.
Yeah.
It's always nice when you canfind that perfect fit.
I would imagine that you guysget involved in helping to review.
(05:27):
Absolutely.
Softwares for.
We are part of that approvalsoftware process where we vet the.
The potential vendor as acompany and also the product that
they're offering to make surethat it meets our standards for data
security and privacy and theirpractices of how they're going to
guarantee they keep our data safe.
(05:50):
Yeah.
So probably the biggest appthat parents would be aware of would
be CTLs.
Did your team get involved inthat development?
So we were not directlyinvolved in the development of that
product, but we did work withthe vendor because CTLS is our learning
(06:10):
management system now and itis a part of the student information
system ecosystem, so to speak.
So we were.
That summer of COVID it was a.
I always think about that.
Of course they started theirwork before that, but that summer
really set into high gear.
We must be prepared to teachstudents online when August comes
(06:34):
around because we knew thatwas very likely.
And so while we didn't developthe software, we were heavily involved
with the vendor and of course,all of the data that they needed
to roll out that platform, allthat data came from us and our data
warehouse and all of ouronline systems.
And so you guys probably hadto work out how they access our data,
(06:56):
how our data is protected andall of that.
And it comes back as well.
You know, teachers createassignments within ctls and then
we take those assignments,those graded assignments and put
them back in our synergy grade book.
So all of those kind of dataintegrations had to be figured out
very quickly while the vendoris also building the platform at
(07:18):
the same time.
It was a hectic two months.
Yes, I think we all rememberit and want to forget it, right?
Absolutely.
So why don't you tell us whatsoftware products you guys have developed
and how that might meet that criterion.
Yeah.
So we've talked in the pastabout different types of student
(07:39):
safety.
And so the first obvious oneis physical safety.
And so a couple that we'vedeveloped that specifically address
that is our Go Safe.
It's a elementary schoolstudent dismissal system that what
it does more than anything isgive some accountability to when
was, when did a student stepoff of campus?
(08:01):
Whether that was on a schoolbus or a car in car line or released
to an after school program ofsome kind.
Wasn't that developed orwasn't that the brainchild of a principal
somewhere?
Yes.
You know, we had one of ourprincipals that really kicked off
(08:22):
that project and brought theimportance of it home.
It was an idea that we had hadinternally but hadn't moved on.
It was in the back of my mind.
And I got a call one day fromWilliam Dryden, who was the principal
at Fry at the time.
And he's like, he said, ryan,you know, my biggest concern is that,
(08:42):
you know, the superintendent,it's student safety is first and
foremost on his mind.
So that it's also mine.
I want to make sure that weknow and we can look back through
data to know that a studentsafely left our campus.
And how did that Happen downto the second.
When did that happen?
And so he initially wanted topurchase something else.
(09:06):
And having had this idearolling around in my brain for a
while, I was like, man, Iwould really love for you to be partners
with us in developingsomething that every elementary school
could use for their dismissal process.
And, you know, as a byproductof that, he wanted to make sure that,
you know, his hallways were ascalm as possible during that time.
(09:28):
And if there was a way to makethe car line itself move more efficiently.
So not necessarily, you know,faster isn't always better, but if
it's more orderly and is moreefficient, then there's real value
in that.
Yeah, I.
First of all, anybody who'sbeen in the hallway of an elementary
school that doesn't have thisapp knows what we're talking about.
(09:49):
The noise level gets really high.
A lot of the approaches or themethods used previously were teachers
and administrators with walkietalkies that are squawking all the
time.
Exactly.
And this brought an element ofcalm to the teacher.
Right.
It did.
Every elementary school thatwe've implemented this, which is
(10:09):
all but like three or fournow, they all say the same thing.
Okay.
It has really just broughtmore order.
They all had their goodprocesses, but it took any type of,
you know, extra noise, walkietalkies out of that process.
And it's all done with, youknow, screens and scanning things
(10:29):
and having students moveorderly to whatever mode of transportation
is taking them away from campus.
And they.
I've also heard it said, I hada conversation with William Dryden
at the time, and he wastelling me that one of the things
that he really takes comfortin is that accountability.
(10:51):
That's right.
That you can't just call theoffice five minutes before dismissal
and have a kid go in adifferent car or whatever.
Yeah.
For parents, that has been ahuge benefit that they no longer
have to do the handwrittennote that, hey, my kid is normally
a bus rider, but today I'mgonna pick him up.
Now there's a parent facingapp where they can go in and change
(11:14):
today's dismissal, and theycan do it up to a certain time online.
And it automatically shows upon the teacher's screen right before
they dismiss the students.
That is a nice thing.
I have witnessed it in action.
And it's just incrediblysleek, smooth.
I think they even said the carline goes faster.
(11:36):
Absolutely.
We have data to prove that, bythe way.
Okay.
Yeah, it's significantlyfaster, about 20% on average.
Now that's go safe.
You've also Got is it pass passport?
Okay, tell us what passport is.
So initially, years and yearsago, we developed the first version
of the field trip system,which was strictly a transportation
(11:57):
facing app.
It helped them schedule theirbus drivers in order to fulfill field
trips that schools wanted togo on.
Okay.
There was an event thathappened over a weekend where Mr.
Ragsdale said, hey, I'd liketo know who all is on this field
(12:18):
trip.
It was a specific area of townand there was no real issue.
But as.
As he will do, I want someinformation on this.
There were more than oneschool had sent students on this
field trip.
And so it took a while totrack down the principals to say,
hey, give me a list of allyour students that were there.
(12:38):
We're talking about a weekendor late night, some situation like
that.
And, you know, it got to acertain point that it.
We eventually got thatinformation from Mr.
Ragsdale, but it wasn't asfast as it should have been.
So the way he does things ishe turns to Sherry Hill and said,
let's fix this.
And so when Sherry Hill givesme a call, I like to make her happy.
(13:03):
And it's funny, when she'sspeaking to a room full of leaders
to leaders, she will say,don't turn to your left or right
and ask, who's going to help me?
We are the help.
You are the help.
So it was our job to make sure.
The charge that we had was weneed to make sure we know where every
student is at the district level.
(13:25):
The schools already know.
Their principals knew at that time.
But from a districtperspective, we need to, on a screen,
be able to pull up everystudent where they are right now
on a potential leg of a field trip.
Yeah, so that was the chargethat we had in developing the new
version of the field trip system.
So.
And I'm just picturing the olddays prior to this app.
(13:49):
Maybe it was a clipboard witha roster and pencil to check off.
Well, it started before thatthe school would send something home,
a piece of paper that says,we're wanting to go on this field
trip expecting the parent tofill in all this information that
we already have, student information.
So you're talking aboutfrustration on the parent's part.
(14:10):
You already know my student'sname and student ID and all these
things.
They're filling those things out.
They're sending that paperback to the school.
And so the school is thenproducing their roster.
And then if there's any typeof other approval that they need
to get from the parent at alater time, maybe Something changed
with the trip.
That's another piece of paper.
(14:30):
They get sent home, the parenthas to sign it.
Again, didn't I already saythat my kid could go?
Well, we added something new,waiver for.
Rock climbing or something.
So now every bit of thatprocess, from the entry of the field
trip information to theassignment of the bus driver, to
the authorization by theparent that their child can go on
(14:51):
this field trip is nowcompletely online.
Okay, and so there you're notonly serving the safety of the child,
but you are streamlining thatwhole permission form process for
the parents.
Correct.
And providing a layer ofaccountability on the trip itself.
That's right.
I'll share this one anecdote.
(15:12):
It was a trip not with Cobbschools, I'll be clear on that.
But there were four busloadsof teenagers going on this multi
state trip and they pulledover and everybody got lunch at the
fast food places and it's timeto get back on the buses.
Thought we had everybody andstart taking off in about 20 minutes.
(15:36):
Got a phone call saying, hey,you left one of your kids here, she
was in the bathroom.
So, you know, sure, it couldhave been a checklist and should
have been at that time, butthis is one of those things that
makes sure every child isaccounted for at every moment.
Of the trip, and particularlywhen we're talking about athletics,
(15:58):
because again, any trip that'staking students away from school
goes into this application.
So anytime an athletic teamhas a sporting event and they want
to take both the boys and thegirls basketball team to a specific
school and they're taking morethan one bus, we know which students
(16:19):
are on which bus.
So if you can imagine one ofthe buses has a flat tire or an issue
and maybe that bus of studentsis going to be late.
Through our system, someonefrom that's an adult on the field
trip could notify the correctparents that, hey, your student is
going to be late getting backto school because they know they're
(16:41):
on.
That particular bus, that isso incredibly important because as
parents, we're all constantlynervous and that is fantastic.
So, all right, so earlier whenwe were talking about go safe, you
you said almost all of theschools, but not all of the schools.
What can parents do to makesure that their school is using the
(17:03):
apps available to help maketheir students as safe as possible?
Yeah, so, I mean, we do leavea lot of the communication with parents
to our schools.
They know their communitiesbetter than we do.
So I would really urge parentsto talk to your school administrators
and just say, hey, we've heardabout this great tool that elementaries
(17:25):
have to be able to releasetheir students.
Have you guys thought about.
And again, if a principalhears that two, three, four times,
they're gonna feel.
Like that I need to pay attention.
That a majority has spoken somehow.
And so I would encourageparents to do that.
If you've heard this podcastand you like what this product can
(17:48):
offer, then I would encouragethem to reach out to their school
administration.
So I know we're talking aboutthat you've developed, you know,
99% for internal use only.
But is there any resource ofinformation where they can learn
more about it or is it justsimply contact the school and ask
(18:09):
what the thoughts are if theywant to know more?
So a lot of the informationthat is parent facing that we can
deliver as a district will beon our website.
We do have a specific studentand parents link on our district
website and so informationabout Parent View is there.
All of the custom apps that weproduce for parents live within Parent
(18:33):
View.
Okay.
Parents are already veryfamiliar with Parent View.
That's where they go to viewtheir students grades and schedules
and those things.
So we put anything that isparent facing in that same menu so
it's easy for them to find.
So those kind of things theycould find information on our website.
Other things like go safe, wedo leave that to the schools to communicate
(18:55):
with their parents becausethey may have a specific timeline
that they want their parentsto go in and set their dismissal
defaults.
So a certain maybe day or twobefore school or even if they want
to wait until a week or so toimplement Carline, they may tell
their parents wait until thento go in and set their options.
So when it makes sense, weallow the schools to do those parent
(19:19):
communications and thenanything that's general information
of where to find something, wedo try to put it on our district
website.
Well, this stuff is justphenomenal value.
There have been so manyapplications, no pun intended, where
it was evident, like what yousaid earlier.
I've already given this information.
Why am I doing it again?
(19:39):
So I'm glad that you guys aretackling this.
I'm sure the listeners areequally thankful that you're reducing
their workload as parents,that's a big obligation.
One of my points of emphasiswas to remove every bit of paper
that is still involved in akey process in the district.
And the first ones we reallywant to hit with that is anything
(20:02):
that goes to a parent.
And I feel like for the mostpart we've done that.
I realize there are stillMaybe some outliers, but that was
really a goal for me is, youknow, because paper with student
information on it, that is a threat.
Yeah.
Because that paper may or maynot make it home safely and then
back to school safely, and itmight have sensitive student information
(20:23):
on it.
So to me, that further ensuresthe safety of the data that's attached
to a student by making sure weget everything online absolutely
appropriately.
What other apps do you guyshave that you're particularly proud
of in terms of just, ingeneral, the charge of the school
(20:45):
district, keeping studentssafe, their data safe, and so forth.
Is there anything else thatyou might want to add?
So I feel like that once we'vedone everything we can to address
physical student safety andthen we've tackled the security of
their data that could be used,you know, to harm their identity,
the next thing that we thinkabout is, you know, it's the primary
(21:07):
charge of the district as awhole, which is student success.
The easiest way we can definestudent success is are they on track
to graduate?
That's kind of important.
It is, and you can't waituntil they failed at that in order
to address it.
So we developed a system,along with academics and Kelly McNabb
to come up with a very simplered, yellow, green alerting system
(21:33):
for every single student.
And that red, yellow, greenstatus indicates their threat or
success on their path towards graduation.
Wow.
So academics with Kelly, theycreated rubrics that determine what
causes a student status to goto yellow or red.
And of course, we have, like Imentioned, lots and lots of data,
(21:57):
historical data for thestudent and for the district as a
whole that we can pull from tofeed this system.
And it's something that wecreated in house.
The data stays in house.
And we're not paying a companymillions of dollars a year to have
developed and then maintain aproduct like that.
So you're giving, like, analert system to make sure, hey, you
(22:18):
need to pay attention becauseyou forgot to do this course or something
that's required.
The superintendent has toutedour improving graduation rates over
the years, and this tool, Ibelieve, has definitely contributed
to that, because you'relooking for ways to make sure as
best you can that a studentdoesn't fall through the cracks,
(22:39):
so to speak.
This is available to ourteachers, to counselors, to school
administrators.
They could easily see at anytime, any students that are in that
yellow or red status area andthen take action appropriately.
Well, thank you so much forcoming by and sharing all of these
(22:59):
nuances of what you do.
We really appreciate the workyou do behind the scenes, you don't
get accolades for what you do,but you do get maybe a feeling of
appreciation for not having torefill out forms.
You know, I've loved being here.
I've been here my entire career.
Our team, they're all veteransthat, you know, have opportunities
to go do other things.
But there's a clear purposehere at Cobb, and that helps make
(23:23):
the work itself more rewardingwhen you have that clear student
success as a goal.
And so it really is ourpleasure to do the work that we do.
And we're constantly lookingfor ways to improve, you know, the
things that our parents haveto deal with and certainly our staff
and students as well.
Well, Brian, again, thank youso much.
If you've gotten somethingfrom this, this podcast, learned
(23:46):
something new, I know I have.
Make sure you give us a likesubscribe and share it with a friend.
Thank you for listening tothis edition of the Inside Scoop,
a podcast produced by the CobbCounty School.
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com