MIS News

Important Information about SASI (School Administrative Student Information)
By Jean Scott

SASI is our student information management software application (sometimes referred to as the “SMS”). Information in SASI is strictly confidential and it’s use and distribution is restricted by FERPA regulations. Under no circumstances should individuals not employed by the school district ever have direct access to the software application on the servers or to the information stored in SASI. As of July 1^st, 2007, following recommendations by the Arizona Auditor General’s office, all SASI user accounts have been synchronized to the user’s network “user name” and associated security policies. Further restrictions on what information a SASI user may view are prescribed by the site administrator, i.e., Principals (and District Administrators where relevant). For information on your network related security policy and user access call IT – x5221. 

All USER ACCOUNT REQUESTS MUST be initiated by the site administrator or his/her designated authorized agent i.e., Principal or Administrative Assistant (or District Administrator where relevant).  Amphitheater SMS administration has implemented a district wide “One User – One Logon” policy, which effectively eliminates “generic” user accounts.  

Student information stored in SASI is directly linked to the District’s annual funding allocation through the Arizona Department of Education’s SAIS (Student Accountability Information System) program. Information on student demographics, attendance, and supplemental programs such as English Language Learner Education, Special Education, Vocational Education, Title 1 and Title 3 programs are submitted to SAIS weekly through out the calendar year. Employees who are responsible for maintaining various aspects of the student’s electronic record are required to closely monitor the accuracy and timeliness of information on all students enrolled in the District. School district departments which regularly access and may export SASI data into supplemental programs include: MIS, Student Services, English Language Acquisition, Title 1, Library, Native American Education, Transportation, Food Services, JTED. 

Report cards and progress reports for K-8, middle schools and high schools are created in a 3^rd party application called “EDGE” based on grading information exported from SASI 8 times a year. The reports are printed, folded, sealed and bulk mailed by the District’s Graphic and Printing department. A second batch of each report is printed on plain paper and sent back to each school for permanent storage as a vault copy. For report card printing related issues call Graphics & Printing – x4055. 

Attendance is tracked on bubble sheets created every 2 weeks at each site and scanned daily with an NCS optical scanner. Responsibility for the maintenance of the NCS scanners is assigned to the MIS office which maintains a record of the annual maintenance agreements.