Montgomery Public Schools Consider New Software to Track Graduation

• By Yvonne Marquez
• 10/16/19

Montgomery Public Schools is considering HiEd, a software program that allows high school students and counselors to track the student’s progress toward graduation. The software program, which costs more than $100,000 annually, was presented to the Montgomery County Board of Education during an Oct. 7 meeting.

The program looks at students’ transcripts and shows them which courses are offered and are needed to graduate, as well as what is required from the state’s four-year colleges to be admitted. The program also shows athletic requirements for NCAA eligibility, which involves a sliding scale based on GPA and ACT and SAT scores.

The program would alleviate a school counselor’s tight schedule and keep students up-to-date on their academic progress.

The cost is a per student rate, averaging between $18 to $25, depending on the size of the district. MPS has eight high schools with about 8,000 students. An estimated cost for the district is $126,000.

HiEd launched two years ago and is being used by 17 schools, including Troy City Schools, just outside Montgomery.

"When you’re dealing with a large student population, it does get difficult to see where a student stands as far as college acceptance and scholarship opportunities,” Troy City Schools Superintendent Lee Hicks said to a local newspaper. “It does free up time for counselors as well as administrators."