IT recommendation Final

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Feb 20, 2024

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Early Childhood Learning Center-IT Recommendation Anita Jacobson IS Principles (INF 220) Prof. Mark Fairbanks January 29, 2024 1

Introduction In the past few decades’ computers have become affordable, readily accessible and the core of most businesses. With increased competitiveness across the globe computers and technology have given businesses the ability become more efficient and profitable by offering faster ways to network, complete certain tasks accurately, access talented labor and save money for the business (Valacich &Schneider, 2016). Businesses should use IT to store, analyze, review, and make small business decisions to help improve their business and in turn create a competitive advantage (Smith, 1999, p. 326). All businesses can find ways to become more efficient and save money by integrating technology, including small, localized businesses such as Bright Beginnings Early Learning Centers located in Chico, CA. Company Background and Information Systems Bright Beginnings Early Learning Centers started as a small family home daycare, with a total enrollment of 6 children cared for by the owner and soon expanded to 12 children with the addition of one employee. After 7 years of operating in the owner’s home an opportunity became available to purchase a small preschool facility located in a commercial building that would allow for the care of up to 48 children. This expansion allowed the owner to move the business out of the owner’s house, alleviating family stress. After operating the small childcare center for a year with great success using the owners’ ideas and philosophies an additional childcare center was built to the owners’ specifications in a nearby town and within 2 years, two additional centers were built. Bright Beginnings offers unique services, a level of care and innovative ideas that made the center highly popular among parents and local teachers. Bright Beginnings cares for more than 400 children and has a staff that consists of 44 teachers, 4 teacher aides, 4 cooks, and on call substitute teachers. I was the project manager that was overseeing the design and development of the 3 new facilities. Once the business reached its current size the owner decided to incorporate the business and I became the head administrator of the business until 2019 when I relocated, my position with the company lasted 22 years. 2

The business provides services for roughly 330-350 local families by providing care in the commercial childcare facilities licensed by the California Department of Human Services. They provide infant care, daycare, pre-kindergarten classes, and afterschool care with pick up services in the school vans. The schools operate year-round, providing summer camps as well. The centers found a special niche in the childcare market but offering free nanny cam services, unique classes such as art, yoga, gymnastics, and a science based curriculum. As regulations in the state of California have become increasingly more complex for early learning centers, IT has become necessary to help manage the vast amounts of records that are now required to be maintained. Along with regulatory agencies placing more stipulations on the business, labor laws and payroll tax laws must be followed. Each facility offers and manages a nutritional program that needs to meet the USDA food guidelines and those records must be maintained as well. IT systems need to be in place to track children’s vaccination records, teachers’ credentials, employee records, student attendance records, vehicle maintenance records and payroll/benefits for the staff. The center has a simple IT system in place that includes a computer used to run the accounting program. The school offers nanny cams that are password protected via the internet. The nanny cam is managed by the site directors and school administrator, when the system goes offline an outside technician is hired to diagnose and fix the issues. The only other use of IT is to create parent newsletters, communicate with parents and staff through emails, and make fliers and posters. All employee files, children files, nutrition and attendance files are kept on paper in file cabinets. The task of keeping children’s vaccinations current has been assisted with the use of an excel spreadsheet, however the reminders are not automated but must be “caught” by a staff member who is reviewing the records. Although the current IT system seems adequate to meet minimum standards, it is time consuming and costly due to the time needed to keep records, there are many areas that can be improved and software 3

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that is available for purchase or service providers available to provide services for this type of business. The use of new IT technology would create a more efficient means of record-keeping with more accuracy and keep the facilities compliant with state and USDA regulations. With the city of Chico growing, the demand for childcare has grown and competitive businesses have opened in the area. To maintain a competitive market advantage upgrading the IT system could allow the business to complete tasks more organized, efficiently with cost savings (Valacich &Schneider, 2016), and allow more time to make other improvements in the business. IT Recommendations Bright Beginnings Early Learning Centers, Inc is like other organizations. Each organization has three levels of decision-making: Operation, Managerial, and Executive. Each level has different responsibilities and therefore different IT needs (Valacich &Schneider, 2016). Bright Beginnings has all three levels of decision makers. The teachers, teacher aides, and nutritionist are on an operational level. The assistant directors and site directors are on a managerial level and administrator, CEO and accountant would be on the Executive level. Teachers and teacher aides need to have the ability to access non confidential child records such as IEP’s (individual educational plans), allergies, parental rights, attendance and basic vaccination records, medical, and epi-pen instructions. They also need to be able to enter notes into the system that are to be made available to other employees on the operational level, or need to go to the manager’s level. Each child’s records need to come with the ability to make alerts if there are specific custody orders in place or medical alerts. Bright Beginnings would need to give each teacher that oversees up to 12 children access to this technology. The software can also be used to track the children’s progress as they enter the pre-kindergarten program. The nutritionists in the kitchen need to have access to the children’s food preference and allergy lists, as well as the days they attend so they can plan accordingly. 4

The nutritionist also must have the ability to record the foods they prepare and serve and how much is wasted, this is a requirement of the USDA food nutrition program. The nutrition program should also be capable of planning meals and generating shopping lists based on the number of children and serving size. The USDA nutrition program also requires that the school’s enrollment is reflective of the community demographics. A report must be completed annually and submitted to the USDA. These employees also need to access their timecards for daily recordkeeping. Assistant directors and site directors should have the ability to access confidential portions of the children’s records and tuition payment information. With more complex decisions to be made in a managerial level they will need to know confidential information such as restraining orders, medical conditions that may affect behavior and confidential information that the parents and guardians choose to share. It’s also important that the managerial level has access to tuition information and so they can immediately address issues as they arise. This managerial level should also be able to add new students, the student schedules, and the ability to archive older records. The site directors should have the capabilities to enter vaccination records and receive alerts with new vaccinations are needed. All managerial level employees should also have access to their timecards, the operational level timecards, as well as have the ability to notate information confidentially in staff records. On the executive level the overall site administrator, CEO and accountant should have access to oversee the children’s records, nutrition records, the tuition payments and employee records (HR records). At this level these records need to be accessed during audits from the state regulatory agency, they also need to be used to make executive decisions and keep accurate records for payroll and tax reporting. The employee records should be used to make the semi-annual and annual employee reviews. There is a need for system automation. The site directors, with the assistance of the lead teachers, spend much time manually keeping children and staff records compliant to state regulations. 5

The children’s vaccinations are kept on an excel spreadsheet but need to be updated as children enroll and unenroll, along with constant monitoring for upcoming vaccinations that are needed to meet state requirements. The payments from parents are placed in a tuition box and collected by the bookkeeper/accountant and a list is manually generated for late and under payments which can sometimes go beyond the parent’s payment grace period. The nutrition program is a large burden, the menus are created and from the menus the shopping lists are created manually by the nutritionist and approved by the site director. The receipts and daily logs are kept in thick binders that are available for audits any time the USDA requests them. Parents sign the children in daily and those records must be kept for a year, which takes up a lot of space and filing time. When children are enrolled the teachers are given information about them and it’s kept updated on clip boards, but the teachers must track expiration dates on epi-pens and keep themselves aware of family members who are picking up children. For security purposes the regulations state that they must have a blank sheet of paper to protect confidential information. They also must communicate back to the management level when changes take place or refer the parents to management level. All the processes keep the staff members continually involved with parents and children but also is inefficient, has room for errors, lacks security, and is not as organized as it could be. In today’s competitive market improved IT processes can enhance a businesses performance, improve productivity, efficiency and even help identify trends within the industry, giving the business a competitive market advantage (Ileva & Tsihrintzis, 2023, p.1), Bright Beginnings can utilize all the benefits of have a new IT system put in place. The benefits of updating the IT system would create record keeping efficiency, creating more time for the teachers and teacher aides to plan and implement curriculum, interact with the children and the parents. The information would be organized on a central computer system for easy access instead of using the files from a filing cabinet. The management level would benefit from an updated IT system to help create an organized file system with the ability to enter and access new records quickly. This 6

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would free up time to help coach teachers, complete parent tours and enroll new students. The executive level of management would have access to the records needed from each site at a central location, making it easier to make executive level decisions and spend less time driving from the various sites daily. The children’s information would be more secure, and the business would gain a competitive advantage. IT also allows businesses to differentiate themselves and focus on a niche market (Smith, 1999, p. 328), in the case of Bright Beginnings they attract clients that not only want a quality program but accurate student records, organized files, and professional system to help transition their children into elementary schools. The elements needed in the data base would be a file system for student records with images and vaccination records with updates when new vaccinations are needed. A simple tuition tracking element to ensure tuition is paid timely and alert parents upon log in when tuition is due. An attendance record system where parents can log their children in and out and the information is saved into the child’s record as well. The database would need to produce menus, help create shopping lists and be able to track quantities served to which children based on the attendance log and how much waste per USDA guidelines. The employees would need a portal where they can track their time as well as update their personal information such as address, email, and phone number updates, it should be capable of tracking their education as well since teachers can obtain credits to gain more teaching responsibilities and promotions. The system would need to network with the administrator’s office and would need the ability to transfer files to another site if a child should move to one of the other locations. I would recommend that the school have the IT system designed and tailored to their specific needs. Bright Beginnings has always been one of the top centers in the area and always the leader in the industry to try new technology. They were the first to install nanny cams. I would recommend that the nanny cams be sourced out and have someone run the system and provide the support and parents can 7

download an app to access the cameras from their phones. This will free up time for the staff and reduce the time that the system is down and the costs of outside support. There are now companies such as Watch Me Grow that specialize in these systems (WatchMeGrow, n.d.). Potential Security Threats A new IT system for Bright Beginnings Early Learning Centers would contain information about children and their families, this information is known as Personal Identifiable Information (PII). PII contains information that can be used against an individual if someone obtains this information. Childcare centers have access to a lot of personal information such as addresses, birthdates, and medical records (Hussaini, 2022). This type of information needs to be kept secure from hackers. Other types of threats may not be intentional like hackers but need to be considered, these are: natural disasters, employees, links to outside business contacts, and simple accidents that can happen in a childcare center (Valacich &Schneider, 2016). Security measures can be put into place to help avoid these security risks. I would start with the simple steps that can help avoid many issues by placing some restrictions on the system. Employees will not be allowed to access their emails from the school’s systems, emails can contain attachments that include viruses (Valacich &Schneider, 2016). They would also not be allowed to use the system to access the internet for their personal use or e-commerce to purchase classroom supplies or personal items. Social media sites would not be accessible, they pose a high risk and are often targeted by malware (Dept. of Education, 2011). This step of security is also known as risk avoidance (Valacich &Schneider, 2016) and would be communicated during the employees training. Passwords would be put into place, each employee would be assigned their own password, this would help prevent other individuals from 8

accessing the information. Staff would also have access to the information they need to do their job, other confidential information not needed for their job would be inaccessible. Creating back ups each evening would help protect information in case of natural disasters or accidents (Valacich &Schneider, 2016). Information that is shared across the network would be accessed through a Virtual Private Network (VPN). This will help provide a safer method of transferring data by using authentication and encryption (Valacich &Schneider, 2016). The IT system would also have a firewall to help prevent outside access, as well as software that monitors for viruses. The nanny cams would be managed by an outside source that would have its own protections in place. Social, Political and Diversity Impacts The data entered, collected, and analyzed on the children enrolled in the facility can have a positive social impact. The data collected on the children’s progress can help teachers recognize areas of concern and this can be communicated with the parents so it can be addressed as the child enters school. While working with teachers throughout my career as an Administrator for Bright Beginnings, the kindergarten teachers appreciated that Bright Beginnings provided an early education, it helped make the transition into school easier. With data collected and tracked in the new IT system, Bright Beginnings could share the tracked progress more accurately, consistently, and more efficiently. And additional positive social impact the new IT system would be increased communication amongst the staff and between centers. The shared knowledge about the children can help the business coordinate efforts to provide a positive educational experience for the children. The political impact of creating and installing an IT system in an early childhood program would stem from meeting the state regulations. The Health and Human Services branch within the region regulates childcare centers and audits facilities annually to ensure compliance. The records of the children must be maintained for several years after the children leave. The staff records and payroll 9

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records must be maintained for much longer and must contain proof that the teachers have clear backgrounds and educational credits needed to teach in an early childhood setting that can be recorded in the new IT system. Therefor the program would have to meet and be approved by the regulatory agency. An early learning setting is a diverse setting, the children and staff come from all socio-economic backgrounds, races, and religions. As mentioned earlier the USDA requires that a demographic report from the area is submitted along with a report of the children’s demographics annually to ensure that the facility is not discriminating. Bright Beginnings does this report manually, when parents enroll their children, they must declare their child’s race unless they decline to state, if they decline to state then the staff must use their best judgement and choose a race. Using these paper applications is how this information is collected and tallied up. With a new IT system this information would be entered when a child enrolls, and the user would be able to create a report within seconds to ensure that the school remains diverse and meets the USDA requirements. Conclusion Creating an IT system for Bright Beginnings would have many benefits. The IT system would create efficiency among the staff and cost savings for the business. The information shared between the sites and the administration would be efficient and nearly effortless. With the ability to have a program that generates menus and tracks the students’ meals that must be reported to the USDA would be cut to a few minutes a day compared to a few hours per week and reports could be generated instantly. Childrens records would be easily accessible and help the teachers provide better care as they would have quick access to important medical information. With the implementation of training, a VPN network, firewalls, and virus protection the security risks could be minimized. Migrating the nanny camera system to an outside vendor would save the business money as well because the service 10

provider would give parents access and provide support when the system has issues, or the parents have questions. An IT system that was built and installed at Bright Beginnings would be a wise choice and help create a competitive market advantage that would keep these childcare centers the one of the top choices in the market. 11

References Department of Education. (2011, December). Data Security: Top Threats to Data Protection . https://studentprivacy.ed.gov/sites/default/files/resource_document/file/Issue%20Brief %20Data%20Security%20Top%20Threats%20to%20Data%20Protection_0.pdf Hussaini, Syed. (2022, October 6). Security and Privacy Issues in Childcare Software. Early Childhood Education Blog . https://www.himama.com/blog/security-and-privacy-considerations-in- childcare-software/ Ilieva, G., & Tsihrintzis, G. (2023). Trends and Applications in Information Systems and Technologies. Electronics. 12(22), 1-4. https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics12224663 Smith, Julia. (1999). Information technology in the small business: Establishing the basis for a management information system. Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development . 6, 326- 340. DOI:10.1108/EUM0000000006684. Valacich, J. A., & Schneider, C. (2016). Information systems today: Managing in the digital world (7th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall WatchMeGrow. (n.d.) The Most Trusted Camera System in Childcare . https://www.watchmegrow.com 12

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