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Updated: Tuesday, May. 2, 2000 at 00:39 CDT

Title: Computer problems limit H-E-B transcripts; students applying to colleges say they cannot get complete records of their grades

By Matt Frazier STAR-TELEGRAM STAFF WRITER

Eager to apply for scholarships, Trinity High School senior Katie Campbell went to her counselor's office in April to get a transcript of her grades.

There was no transcript.

Weeks later, she still cannot get a full, current transcript.

No junior or senior can in Hurst-Euless-Bedford school district. Through the height of college-application season, parents and students must make do with an incomplete version called a free-form transcript.

District officials have said that is the best they can do right now with the million-dollar Pentamation computer system, which was installed during the past year to keep track of student records and school financial data.

Administrators said they expected some difficulty in switching to the new system and that things are improving. But because they have had to spend more time with the new system, they have had less time for students' needs, they said.

"Have we been able to meet student needs as well this year as in years past? Well, no, I don't think we have," Trinity High counselor Richard Thompson said. "I would be discouraged about the whole thing if I didn't see progress being made on every front. Next year will be better."

H-E-B printed transcripts in January and again in February. Both sets were incomplete and contained mistakes. Counselors say they have been assured by college admissions officers that the free-form transcripts printed in March are sufficient to judge applicants.

But contacting college admissions offices to explain Pentamation problems is just one more time-consuming job that school counselors have had to do since the system was installed.

They also have had to squeeze their trimester schedule into Pentamation's two- semester format. They are still trying to figure out how to enter the stacks of transcripts brought in from other schools by transfer students.

Meanwhile, parents and students say they are frustrated.

"My daughter has not had a [ grade-point average] on her report card all year long," said Drew Campbell, Katie's father. "There are at least two courses that she doesn't have grades in."

Trinity High senior Stacy Bookout, 18, said she missed a scholarship deadline at a college that she had applied to because of the problem.

"They couldn't give you your scores," she said. "They couldn't give anything."

But Bookout said she was able get a scholarship at another college that accepted the free-form transcript after the deadline.

About 15 years ago, the district started writing its own record keeping programs. The system became outdated as the state required districts to keep increasingly complex records. Then H-E-B administrators became worried about potential Year 2000 computer problems.

Trustees agreed in June 1998 to spend $900,700 for a Pentamation computer system. It tracks registration, attendance, school funds, salary schedules, employee benefits, budgets and purchases. The package included an annual maintenance contract of about $85,000 for training, software updates and technological support.

Business and payroll staff made the change with fewer problems, school officials said. But transferring information from the district's old, handwritten software system had employees working late hours and computer technicians running from campus to campus.

"It is such a labor-intensive process to go through," said Paul Fannin, associate superintendent for administrative services. "They were having to do normal work plus verifying data and making sure it went to the new system. If there were anything we had to do over, it would be to provide training."

The Denton school district, which began using Pentamation in August, had problems initially inputting and categorizing student absences.

"We had some bugs at the beginning," district spokeswoman Sharon Cox said. "But they seem to have most of the bugs worked out."

The Northwest school district, which started using Pentamation last year to accommodate its growing enrollment, has not had major problems, Northwest Assistant Superintendent Jon Graswich said.

Despite the problems at H- E-B, administrators there say the Pentamation changeover was a success overall.

"If you take the whole big package, the conversion was successful," Fannin said. "It was not without problems. I think anyone who has ever gone through a massive software conversion knew there would be problems."

Things are improving as employees continue to learn how to bend Pentamation into a format they can live with, school officials say. Complete transcripts should be ready by the end of the school year.

"As we've gone along, we've found some little glitches ... things they didn't train us how to do that we had to find out," L.D. Bell High School counselor Gary Russell said. "It has been a headache. It was more of a headache six months ago than it was now."

Staff writer Jennifer Radcliffe contributed to this report.

Matt Frazier, (817) 685-3852

Send comments to mfrazier@star-telegram.com

http://www.star-telegram.com/news/doc/1047/1:FRONT27/1:FRONT270502100.html

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