InfoSnap, the new online registration program for the Palo Alto Unified School District, has created more problems than it has solved, according to Paly data processor Lue Phelps.

The 2009 program update was intended to consolidate student registration information into electronic databases, eliminating the need for paper forms. However, Phelps said the new system is harder to work with and more prone to error.

“With paper, it’s a question of dealing with an individual student,” Phelps said. Now, she and the other school data processors have to wait for the school district to collect the data and convert it into files that can be read by the Paly record system, SASI, before they can make changes to any records.

“Paper’s much easier,” Phelps said.

According to Phelps, there are registration problems that had yet to be resolved after school started, including some in which students were registered at multiple schools or were simply dropped from the system.

The issue of students losing their online registration information added to the problem. Junior Ally Messick had trouble obtaining her student registration number from the school after she lost the initial mailing. “My mom emailed twice and tried calling,” Messick said.

Messick was finally able to complete her registration the day before school started, but encountered issues with the online form, which required every field to be filled out in order to continue. “If you don’t have a home phone or another contact, you have to make something up to continue with the application process,” Messick said.

Messick said she and her family found the program “extremely burdensome and absurd.”

Junior Manon von Kaenel also voiced concerns over the security of online registration. “My parents didn’t think it was reliable and secured since it was online,” von Kaenel said. According to von Kaenel, her family requested paper forms from the district, but missed the deadline.

“It was just a big mess,” von Kaenel said. “Finally we had to do the online registration in August, way past the deadline.”

Paly Assistant Principal Kim Diorio said she hasn’t noticed a significant increase in the number of registration problems since the transition from paper to electronic forms. “There are a couple of glitches,” Diorio said. “It’s not perfect.”

Phelps, who has worked at Paly for over 30 years, said that the real issue stemmed from the lack of sufficient testing done on the system before it was formally put in place.
According to Phelps, when she first began managing registration forms, each school was responsible for filing its own registration forms.

“Everything was tested before it was used, so by the time we were doing the data, everything worked,” Phelps said. “Now, they jump into live data and pray they don’t leave someone out.”

Phelps said she doesn’t foresee significant improvements in the system. “I’m not hopeful,” Phelps said.