TPS plans to update district's Internet site

6/20/2007

The design for the Toledo Public Schools' new Web site will start to take shape this week, a district official said yesterday.

Patty Mazur, district spokesman, told the district's community and public relations committee she plans to meet tomorrow with designers from WebArt of Toledo.

"The Web site becomes a resource for our parents and the community," Ms. Mazur said. "The current site is outdated as far as design, it's not user-friendly, and the software we use is outdated and it is no longer supported technically."

The board of education agreed this year to pay WebArt $11,500 to design a new site to replace the existing www.tps.org.

The company was the lowest among eight bidders for the job. The highest bid was more than $100,000, Ms. Mazur said.

Half the Web site will be complete by the start of the 2007-06 school year, Ms. Mazur said.

Steve Timofeev, a WebArt partner, said the site will focus on teachers, parents, students, and schools.

"We are throwing some ideas back and forth and we are going to highlight some of the [art] work that the kids have done that is displayed in the TPS buildings," Mr. Timofeev said. "The site itself can change on the daily basis."

An informal survey conducted by the district found that parents want to have access to downloadable forms, sporting event information, a school calendar, college scholarship information, teacher e-mails, and a frequently asked question section.

In other business, Superintendent John Foley told the committee the district will invite city business leaders and Realtors on a bus tour of the district's new buildings set to open in the fall.

Toledo Public Schools plans to open eight - and possibly 10 - schools in the fall as part of the district's new-construction program.