Council of School Supervisors & Administrators

The Special Education Student Information System – SESIS – is intended to streamline record keeping.
The program, unfortunately, was implemented before it was ready and has exacerbated an already complex process.

“SESIS is the million-dollar Frankenstein. It’s a horror,” said a teacher who was visiting CSA.

The following responses and comments from CSA members represent some of the more serious issues arising with SESIS. We are in regular communication with the DOE about SESIS to make sure member ratings are not adversely impacted vis à vis compliance.

• SESIS, CAP, ATS, SEC: Information is inconsistent across these systems and the problems cannot be rectified at the school level. Schools do not have access to CAP – Child Assistance Program data system – and cannot make corrections. Therefore, the IEP in SESIS remains out of compliance because it cannot be finalized.
   
• The SESIS Helpdesk is awful: Wait time can exceed an hour, and two- and three-hour waits are still reported. Personnel often can’t assist as the problems are system-based “glitches.” Some issues may take weeks to resolve and, meanwhile, the case is deemed out of compliance.
   
• Only the Principal can grant staff access to student information via Galaxy.
   
• Only one person can work on a single record at a time, while multiple people serve the same child. Entering data to complete an evaluation can take up to four hours as the team members must work one at a time.
   
• Cases opened in CAP and then either withdrawn or closed show up in SESIS as “out of compliance.” Again, schools can’t fix the problem.
   
• SESIS does not recognize confirmation numbers regardless of how many times the “first attend date” is entered. Similarly, the system doesn’t recognize fax numbers even after the annual review has been faxed and the fax number has been entered into the system as required.
   
• Entering attendance is laborious and time consuming for related service providers, up to 45 minutes each day, or an instructional period. In addition, service location may vary but no space is provided to record multiple locations.
   
• Notice of final recommendation is not included in SESIS. Schools are still sending the prior version.
   
• SESIS cannot generate a report on the mandated triennials due in August and September resulting in cases going out of compliance between June and September.
   
• The psychologist cannot open a case to write a “historical psychological profile” without the parent signing consent, something that is only required for new testing.
   
• SESIS does not provide a cumulative history of IEP activity. The program is incapable of recording or maintaining social history. In short, the information may be current, but the history of services, placement, and other vital information is not readily accessible, which is essential to the foundation of a relevant new IEP.
   
• The parent signature/date appears only on the signature page. Parents cannot sign each page of an IEP to verify that he has read it.
   
• When a student is decertified but still requires related services or test modifications, SESIS is incapable of recording this information or reporting it, which is necessary in identifying the students moved to the least restrictive environment.
   
• The final document is not easily read or understood by parents and fails to provide a summary of services or program placement category. Parents also do not receive a summary of any changes or modifications to the IEP.