Volume 3 | Issue 1 | Fall 2017

Message from Lynn Heatherly

iTCCS Programming Services Director

The calendar says that fall is just days away, but my thermometer disagrees! In fact, the weather has played some cruel tricks on us over the last several weeks and many districts in Texas are feeling the impact. The coastal regions took the direct impact from Hurricane Harvey and our hearts go out to all those affected. The shock wave continues to travel beyond those areas, as districts in other parts of the state welcome displaced families into their schools. We even have families who are affected by Hurricane Irma enrolling in Texas schools. And just as you would expect, the people of Texas stand ready to help.

We at the TCC are also ready to assist, you, our clients. One step we took was to postpone our first annual TCC User Conference, which was scheduled for early November. We recognize that with so many schools having to refocus priorities this fall to things like cleanup, rebuilding, relocating, or scooting over to make room for more students, the timing of the User Conference was less than ideal.

iTCCS was also very quick to respond when TEA communicated the need to submit crisis code data about the affected students for both Harvey and Irma. iTCCS is ready for clients to submit that data and our consultants are available to answer questions that might arise from this additional data collection. Our goal is to make sure you’re in compliance with ALL federal and state mandates.

We hope to see and hear from you all this year – whether you stop by our booth at a conference or message us on social media. We want to know about all the wonderful things going on in your district and how we can better serve you. We are proud to be your school administrative software of choice.

Hurricane Harvey & Irma

The coast of Texas is suffering. As is Florida. People have lost everything. We need to pull together as a state to help everybody out. Part of that means moving students to different schools so their educations are minimally impacted. We here at the Texas Computer Cooperative are offering our software support to make this difficult time a little less difficult. We have already implemented the Harvey Crisis Code as well as the Irma Crisis Code to identify students who have been displaced by the hurricane and we're ready to assist with any necessary changes as they arise. The TCC wants to help however we can. Get in touch with us if you have any questions.

See What People Are Saying about iTCCS

"There has been great feedback regarding the new online registration process from parents and campus staff! Great job making this process more efficient!"

-Rita Molina, Director of Student Information Services, Comal ISD

"I love iTCCS! The Student application is robust, easy to use, easy to navigate and allows for a certain amount of customization that makes our day to day jobs easier when it comes to working with student data. We are excited about the ongoing improvements that are constantly being added such as the new customized reports and we look forward to the addition the snapshot customized reports. One of the most important things I have to say about iTCCS is how much we appreciate the consulting team we work with. There is no area where they aren’t willing to help. The team always provides support above and beyond and when it comes to helping keep up with State mandates you can’t put a dollar amount on the value of the service they provide."

-Sally Andruzzi, Director, PEIMS & Student Information Systems, Emma Frey Service Center

iTCCS Insight: The Latest in Texas School Software

Congratulations!

iTCCS would like to congratulate some of our amazing districts and schools for earning all possible distinctions applicable to them:

Ector County ISD – Elementary Magnet at Reagan Elementary School
Edinburg CISD (12) – Austin Elementary School; Betts Elementary School; Jefferson Elementary School; Trevino Elementary School; Canterbury Elementary School; Escandon Elementary School; De La Vina Elementary School; San Carlos Elementary School; Truman Elementary School; Anne L. Magee Elementary School; Alfonso Ramirez Elementary School; R.C. Flores-Mark A. Zapata Elementary School
Fredericksburg ISD – Stonewall Elementary School
Midland ISD – Carver Center
Pflugerville ISD – Pflugerville High School
San Antonio ISD – Young Women’s Leadership Academy
South San Antonio ISD – Miguel Carrillo Jr. Elementary School

And congratulations to Edinburg CISD for their distinction for postsecondary readiness. Way to go!

And here's something else to rave about: another smooth opening to the school year. Thanks to all our districts who worked so hard on making it work.

Finally, congratulations to Laura Torres (find out a little more about Laura in the Meet the TCC section below) for winning the ESC-20 Centergy Award this year. The Centergy Award is based on the ability of a Center employee to demonstrate outstanding internal and external customer service that exemplifies collaboration and sustainability.

System

iTCCS completed its annual disaster recovery exercise this July and we updated our infrastructure, too. We were working away as you were (hopefully) sitting on a beach this summer. We’re always working away to make iTCCS the most secure it can be.

You probably didn’t even notice (unless you were directly involved), but iTCCS had an operating system upgrade this summer. Why does that matter then, if you didn’t notice? Well, we always make sure iTCCS is running in a stable, safe environment. Important work is always going on behind the scenes helping you get your important work done quickly, seamlessly and securely. iTCCS: always advancing.

iTCCS offers premiere administrative software for Texas schools. You know that already. But did you know that it offers value added tools like JasperReports, a Java-based data analysis and reporting engine? This versatile addition to iTCCS lets you create ad hoc reports and dashboards, export data in many different formats (PDF, .csv, .rtf and HTML to name just a few). Schedule reports to run on particular days each week or month and have them sent to you when they’re done. The whole world of data from your district is at your fingertips. Want to know more? Contact us.

Student

Now you can add attendance records for students enrolled in an Optional Flexible School Day Program (OFSDP). View, update and post attendance for students in the OFSDP. Everything you can do for the more traditional attendance. iTCCS makes flexible easy.

Don't forget the Custom Reports. The Student system has build-your-own reports in both Student Snapshot and Registration.

Contact

We're here for you. Contact information is just a click away. Let us know what you think or ask questions. And don't forget about social media. We've got the bases covered:

Business

Did you know that you can project next year’s budget for payroll expenses in the Position Management application? You can have multiple “what if” scenarios like percentage increase in salaries (daily or annually), step increases and even proposed positions. Arrange employees by their employee grouping (e.g., teachers, admins or maintenance). And after you’ve found the perfect projection, easily move your forecast to payroll. iTCCS wants you to make the most informed decision you can about your employees and your budget.

It’s been a long time coming, but it’s finally here at the beginning of September: TRS TEAM. And iTCCS is TEAM-ready.

Don't forget the Custom Reports. The Business system has build-your-own reports in Payroll.

Did You Know?

If you're a supervisor, you can view all your people's leave requests and overtime (pending and approved) right in a monthly calendar? And you can drill down to see any supervisor's employees. It's nice to be able to see everything at a glance. Click on the name and you'll be able to see what time those folks took off on a particular day, too. iTCCS makes visualizing data easy.

TSDS, OCR & End-of-Year

Fall PEIMS is just around the corner. We've updated data collections, which means -- as you well know -- you're covered. iTCCS offers trusted compliance with ALL federal and state mandates so you can breathe a sigh of relief.

News

Fall conference season is nearly upon us. We'll be at quite a few this fall/winter. Want to know where? This page has all of them listed.

Bring in the Best^™

CareerPortal, Texas Computer Cooperative's latest addition, is an online job recruitment and applicant management application. Flexible, powerful, a breeze to administer, simple to navigate and a delight to use, both as a business and as an applicant, CareerPortal is fast becoming one of Texas's favorite job recruitment tool. For more information, contact your local Education Service Center or visit us online

Meet the TCC

Laura Torres

Office Manager I, Systems & Operations
Texas Computer Cooperative

Laura won the ESC-20 Centergy Award this year -- Congratulations!

Q. How long have you worked at the TCC?

A. Ten years.

Q. What were one or two of your favorite projects?

A. The elimination of iTCCS microfiche processing as of March 3, 2017. This was a process that encompassed creation and distribution of microfiche that our clients were requesting. By using alternative methods our clients were able to eliminate microfiche processing, which resulted in iTCCS cost savings. This was a big project and March 3^rd was the day I did my happy dance. Yay!

I also created a yearly Matrix for each one of my contracts to help track monthly invoices, which helped with reconciling any billing issues with BTS (Business and Technology Services, a department of ESC-20) and our vendors.

Q. What’s something you enjoy doing when you get home from work or on the weekends?

A. Walking, gardening, and attempting to make healthy meals, which can be challenging but I keep taking a stab at it.

Q. Do you have any pets?

A. CoCo. She is a domestic short-hair cat. I received CoCo as a birthday gift from my husband four years ago. Although I clip her nails, clean her potty and bath her, she tends to love my husband more. Our term of endearment for her is Mamas and she often wants papas (treats) and comes running for them. Her kitty tower is located by the window in our bedroom and every morning around 5 a.m. she licks the blinds until we give her some papas. Needless to say she is very smart and knows how to get her way. Unfortunately, even though I’m the one to comply with her every need, she still goes to my husband to be carried. Go figure.

iTCCS Flyers of Interest

iTCCS Applications Flyer (PDF)

iTCCS Insight Archive

Click here to view the newsletter archive.

Published: September 22, 2017

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