Case Study: School Board of Broward County, Florida 

The Client:
School Board of Broward County, Florida
District Type: Large Urban
Total SPED Students: 35,000

The Project:
EasyIEP, EasyTRAC, EasyFAX and EDplan Implementations. 

The Opportunity:
Broward initially implemented Public Consulting Group’s (PCG’s) EasyTRAC™ web-based solution for the documentation of health-related services provided to special education students in October 2000.

EasyTRAC™ allowed Broward clinicians to document services electronically from any computer connected to the Internet. For Medicaid eligible students, these services were then automatically submitted for direct federal reimbursement. For a district with 273 schools and over 40,000 special education students, the additional revenue that EasyTRAC™ helped to recover proved to be significant: to date, PCG has helped Broward County recoup more than $3.3 million.

In 2002, Broward administrators began to consider introducing a comprehensive student management system to their special education framework. Their search focused on web-based systems with the functionality to store student data historically, from year to year. They also sought a system that could accommodate Broward’s unique size and customization demands: the county’s 273 schools are divided into four geographic areas. Administrators wanted a new system that would provide these four areas with a centralized set of forms and documents. Broward also considered the potential for long-term expansion and access adaptability. Over time, administrators wanted their system to expand to provide parents and general education teachers with limited configurable log-in access.

Broward again selected PCG, implementing EasyIEP™ in the spring of 2003.

The PCG Approach:
In addition to providing Broward County with a strong record of client-centered support, PCG’s special education team also adapted its service offerings to affordably develop a Broward-specific process for creating IEPs. PCG merged Broward’s existing EasyTRAC™ system with EasyIEP™, giving users access to their students through a single secured website. It also gave administrators the ability to monitor the delivery of services as compared to what was prescribed in the IEP.

“PCG’s staff has been professional, bright, and hard-working. They are highly responsive to the needs of the customer and work quickly to resolve issues. They continually strive to improve processes based on customer feedback.”

Wendy Gonsher, Director
Data and Fiscal Operations
School Board of Broward County

In the fall of 2006, Broward County added PCG’s EasyFAX™ tool as well as a module for Gifted students to its IEP system. EasyFAX™ gives the district the ability to capture paper documents and convert them to paperless format. The software allows educators to quickly and easily add signature pages, meeting comments, and other paper-based information to a student’s digital portfolio. The Gifted module allows the district to create and maintain all required documentation for its entire Exceptional Student population. The system allows the district to track the unique timelines required for Gifted students.

In the spring of 2007, Broward County decided to begin discussions and pilot of PCG’s EDplan module. EDplan is used by districts to address the Response to Intervention (RTI) requirements of IDEIA. EDplan not only allows educators to create the plans for each student, but also allows them to track how effective each intervention is at helping the student to increase achievement, well before a referral to special education is considered.

The Result: 

The School Board of Broward County and PCG are now in their 8th year of partnership and together have achieved considerable success. During Fiscal Year 2007, Broward’s 5,517 active users logged in to EasyIEP™ over 840,000 times and to date have created more than 1 million documents.

“PCG tools have allowed us to gather data which reflects the quality of our education process and to monitor and identify weaknesses as they occur. The electronic system focuses on the IEP process rather than the forms. It allows us to focus on the ‘spirit’ of IDEA rather than the paperwork.”

Wendy Gonsher