Baltimore's education chief testified before a federal judge yesterday that she is "very confident" the school district will meet a court-imposed deadline to have in good working order a computer tracking system for special education students.

School system Chief Executive Officer Carmen V. Russo had been warned in March in a series of orders by U.S. District Judge Marvin J. Garbis that she and a top deputy, Chief Technology Officer Joseph J. Kirkman, could be held in civil contempt and jailed if the computer system is not "fully operational" two weeks before the start of the school year.

"I truly have no reason to believe it will not be," Russo told the judge yesterday.

Garbis reminded Russo that she will be held "personally responsible" for the outcome.

At issue is the operation of the Special Education Tracking System, also known as SETS, which is used to track information on the thousands of children receiving special education services in the city. As a result of a lawsuit filed 18 years ago, the school district is legally required to ensure that the system is functioning properly.

A March report filed with the court criticized the school district for a botched attempt to upgrade SETS that left it all but inoperable for much of this year. Amy Totenberg, the court-appointed special master in the case and author of the report, also wrote that school officials failed to properly manage the contract with 4GL School Solutions Inc., the Towson-based company that developed and maintains the SETS software.

In testimony during the 5 1/2 -hour hearing, Kirkman and several members of the school district's technology division said they have been working with the head of 4GL, Clark Easter, to ensure that the computer system is operating properly and that school employees are trained to use it.

Kirkman said that some aspects of SETS, including an on-line help system and the training of employees, need not be complete by the August deadline in order for it to be considered "fully operational."

But Garbis and Totenberg questioned yesterday whether school officials will be able to tell whether it is working properly until the school year begins and the bulk of the employees who use the system start doing so.

Kirkman said after the hearing that he estimates the work to fix SETS has cost the school system between $200,000 and $300,000 since March.

Last night, the city school board approved spending $919,000 on the 4GL contract for the coming fiscal year, $519,000 more than Kirkman had budgeted.

RGJ.com

-- Anonymous, June 27, 2002