District 122 Trying to Get Out of Student Data Contract

Superintendent Michael Sass said officials are trying to get out of a contract with student data warehouse Just 5 Clicks, but it hasn't yet had the cooperation from the company to do so.

The district wants out of the contract because , a system which would perform all the functions of Just 5 Clicks as well as other capabilities. District officials discussed the contract at a Board of Education meeting last month.

"We're preceding with doing PowerSchool right now, and we're just planning on having a transition," Sass said. "We're not sure when that transition will take place."

Officials from Barrington-based Just 5 Clicks did not return calls for comment. In the past month, the company's website also has been taken down and the phone number was disconnected.

Technology director Jason Livezey said the district would save about $15,000 annually by switching from Just 5 Clicks to PowerSchool.

PowerSchool will cost about $32,000 per year, following a startup cost of $156,349. The portion of PowerSchool (which has multiple parts to it) that will essentially do what Just 5 Clicks did will equate to about $26,000, Livezey said. There is a $7.30 annual fee per student, amounting to about $41,000 a year that District 122 would pay.

During discussion of the PowerSchool purchase, board members asked what would happen with the Just 5 Clicks contract. Sass said the district has repeatedly called Just 5 Clicks and after failing to get a response, its attorney sent the company a "mean letter."

The district's contract with Just 5 Clicks states the contract would be automatically renewed on June 30, 2011, unless either party provides written notice to not renew. Under the termination clause, it says either party can terminate the agreement if the other party breaches any of the terms or conditions and the breach is not cured within 30 days.

District officials would not comment on whether any terms of the contract had been breached, or whether they were looking to exit the contract immediately or at the end of the current year's contract.

District spokeswoman Jenny Zimmerman said a lawsuit has not been filed, and would not comment further on the situation. At the meeting, Sass made it clear the district would continue to pursue getting out of the contract.

“It’s a significant amount of money,” he said. “We’ll get it.”