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Piess contacts: Khalliu Al-Alim, fathei of LA0SB chiluien S2S-
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Los Angeles, CA - Thiee sets of paients have steppeu foiwaiu fiom uiffeient paits of
Los Angeles 0nifieu School Bistiict to file a joint citizen iequest foi Civil uianu }uiy
investigation anu an auuit into the abiuptly halteu iPau ueal anu iollout, anu the
ongoing NiSiS ciisis wheie malfunctioning stuuent scheuuling softwaie iequiieu
that thiee of the woist-affecteu schools join a lawsuit to get immeuiate couit-
oiueieu iemeuies.

Khalliu Al-Alim, a fathei of foui chiluien cuiiently in LA0SB schools who lives in the
South Los Angeles aiea, has expeiienceu uelays anu uifficulty in iegisteiing his
eluest uaughtei Simone foi classes at hei high school.

"Ny oluest uaughtei's in 12th giaue, anu a senioi applying to college. }ust so you
know, Cal State 0niveisity applications openeu on Fiiuay, 0ctobei 17, 2u14, anu enu
on Novembei Su, 2u14. If she's not able to get hei tiansciipt anu official giaues, she
oi othei kius like hei might miss this winuow of oppoitunity to apply to college at a
CS0. That's not iight," Al-Alim saiu. "To uate, my uaughtei's not even in the system.
She neeus a ciucial biology class to giauuate. We can't even meet with counselois."

"Elsewheie I've leaineu that some schools uiun't even have the iight kinus of
computeis oi opeiating system necessaiy to iun NiSiS. Bow can the school uistiict
not know how many computeis it has anu what system specs aie to iun ciucial class
scheuuling softwaie." says Al-Alim.

Angelita Paikei is anothei South Los Angeles paient activist who joins in the
iequest foi investigation anu auuit by the civil gianu juiy.

"School staiteu on August 11 anu it's moie than 2 months since the pioblems began
this fall. Will chiluien be penalizeu because they ieceiveu less time leaining in the
classioom than othei kius at schools wheie they uiun't have this pioblem." asks
Paikei. "We shoulun't have schools |like }effeisonj go to couit in oiuei to fix things."

Foi these ieasons, the families wanteu to highlight how pooily implementation of
NiSiS went, suipassing even the iPau iollout in uigency anu giavity. They insist on
immeuiate fixes anu actions to ieassuie all paients that theii chiluien will be able to
get classes they neeu anu official tiansciipts necessaiy foi college applications, anu
piopei instiuction pioviueu to special eu anu English language leaineis as iequiieu
by law.

San Feinanuo valley mom of a young teen also affecteu by scheuuling snafus as a
iesult of the NiSiS meltuown, Spike Waiu, is equally upset. "Theie seems to be a
pattein of bau uecisions wheie the iPaus weie ueciueu upon without any input fiom
teacheis oi paients, anu maybe even top staff got too cozy with Apple anu Peaison.
We think we shoulu get to the bottom of that too," says Waiu.

"Ni. Beasy is alieauy gone. This is about looking foiwaiu. We neeu to know facts so
Ramon Coitines taking ovei knows what he's got to make these fixes anu his
successoi has these facts at his oi hei fingeitips. Why is infoimation so lacking."
asks Waiu. "Aie these not piofessionals. Let's not foiget that the public has the iight
to know how its money is being spent."

"This is why we iespectfully iequest that the Civil uianu }uiy - an inuepenuent,
exteinal bouy - investigate anu auuit LA0SB on the iPau anu NiSiS ueals. We have
lots of questions about why things aien't woiking. We neeu facts to go foiwaiu anu
make fixes," saiu Al-Alim.

# # #

Supplemental links:

KPCC public iecoius iequest iPaus ueal, }ohn Beasy, Apple & Peaison:
http:www.scpi.oigblogseuucation2u14u82S17192how-uiu-
la-schools-ueciue-on-ipau-softwaie-it-stai

"Emails show Pearson and L.A. Unified staff originally considered buying the software with
textbook funds which can be used for software.
Early emails show Pearsons Codding did not want the district to solicit bids from other
companies known as a request for proposals, or RFP.
Everything would come out of the textbook fund, Codding wrote to Aquino, L.A Unifieds
head of instruction. The price would be just as you and I discussed. I dont know why there
would have to be an RFP. I just want things right. I cannot imagine anyone else able to do this as
cheaply with all the PD [professional development] and all the materials for 25 courses for the
price we discussed.
KPCC timeline:
http:www.scpi.oigblogseuucation2u14u82S17192how-uiu-
la-schools-ueciue-on-ipau-softwaie-it-stai#timeline

KPCC Beasy cancels iemainuei of iPau contiact:
http:www.scpi.oigblogseuucation2u14u82S172u2la-schools-
cancel-ipau-contiacts-aftei-kpcc-publis

KPCC: LA0SB Inspectoi ueneial ieopens piobe of iPau ueal:
http:www.scpi.oigblogseuucation2u14u82717212emails-
piompt-la-schools-inspectoi-geneial-to-ieop



LA Baily News: http:www.uailynews.comsocial-
affaiis2u141uu7lausus-misis-uiaggeu-into-couit-activists-want-
state-to-get-involveu



LA Times: http:www.latimes.comlocaleuucationla-me-lausu-
softwaie-2u141u12-stoiy.html#page=1

"Noie than 6uu fixes oi enhancements aie neeueu in the softwaie, anu theie aie
"uata quality anu integiity issues" that incluue giaues, assignments anu even
stuuents uisappeaiing fiom the system, Supt. }ohn Beasy acknowleugeu last week in
a lettei. It coulu take a yeai to woik out kinks in the system just to entei giaues, he
saiu."


LA Times: http:www.latimes.comopinionopinion-lala-ol-ueasy-
jeffeison-classes-2u141u1u-stoiy.html

Yet, though the ruling was against the state because it was the only party named as a
defendant, the judge reserved perhaps his harshest words for Deasy, saying the
superintendent wasn't acknowledging his responsibilities for knowing about Jeffersons
problems and hadnt thought of a way to fix them, much less actually taken action.
The students who were enrolled in Jeffersons sham courses will see improvement now,
but a real victory would have been for Deasy to take charge starting back in August. Two
months into the school year, it will be a miracle if students catch up, even with extra
tutoring.

LA Daily News: http://www.dailynews.com/social-affairs/20141013/misis-
caused-wide-ranging-problems-in-lausd-court-appointed-monitor-says
A court-appointed monitor Monday reported Los Angeles Unifieds rollout of a new
computer software, MiSiS, caused wide-ranging problems, including issues that inhibited
educators at a majority of 201 campuses from placing special needs students into the
proper classes.
While LAUSD officials have claimed the software was needed to fulfill the terms of a
federal court settlement from nearly two decades ago, the monitor noted that LAUSD
officials decided to add features that were available under an established program,
making the rollout more challenging a move school officials had been warned about,
according to the annual report from court-appointed monitor David Rostetter.
During the development of the software it was noted that programming outpaced the
MiSiS teams capacity for conducting quality assurance (QA) work. It was also noted that
the team lacked the adequate resources for QA testing, which resulted in several software
code freeze dates not being met. This means that the programming should have been
completed by this time but was extended. This delay caused the QA work to continue
until the roll-out date in August, according to Mondays report.
# # #