SIS Evaluation Guide

Questions to ask
during an SIS demo.

SIS demos are designed to show you the product at its best. These questions are designed to surface what the demo doesn't show you on its own.

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The full question list

40 questions across 8 categories.

Organized by the decisions these questions inform. You don't need to ask all of them - but you should know which ones matter most for your school before the demo starts.

1

Pricing and contracts

  • What is the all-in annual cost at our student count?Ask for a number that includes every module your school needs - gradebook, attendance, LMS, family portal, analytics, state reporting.
  • What is not included in the base price?Get the vendor to list every module or add-on that costs extra before you assume it's included.
  • What are the implementation and onboarding fees?Many platforms charge separately for setup, data migration, and training. This number belongs in your year-one budget.
  • What is the annual price increase cap at renewal?A platform that starts at $8/student can become $13/student over five years. Ask for the contractual cap.
  • What are the exit terms if we decide to leave?Know what happens to your data and what the notice period is before you sign.
2

Implementation and onboarding

  • What does implementation actually look like for a school our size?Ask for a specific timeline with milestones, not a range. "Four to twelve weeks" tells you nothing.
  • Who handles our data migration and what does it require from us?Find out who does the work, what format your data needs to be in, and what your team is responsible for.
  • Who is our point of contact during implementation?A named person, not a support queue.
  • What training is included and what does it look like?Live training or recorded videos? Synchronous or self-serve? How long is access to training materials?
  • Can you give us a reference from a school that implemented in the same window we're planning?Summer implementation and mid-year implementation are different experiences.
3

Support after go-live

  • What does support look like after we go live?Phone, chat, email, or ticket queue? What are the response time commitments?
  • Is support included or tiered by price?Some platforms include only basic support at the base price and charge for phone access.
  • Do you have a dedicated account manager or does support go to a shared queue?The answer changes significantly after the first year at some vendors.
  • What is your NPS or customer satisfaction score?Vendors with strong support are usually happy to share this. Silence is informative.
4

State reporting and compliance

  • Show me exactly how we submit our state attendance and enrollment report.Watch the actual workflow, not a description of it. Count the steps.
  • How do you handle state reporting format changes?States update reporting requirements regularly. Who updates the SIS to match, and how quickly?
  • Have you had any customers in our state report compliance issues related to the SIS?Ask directly. The answer is useful either way.
  • How do you handle FERPA compliance and data security?Where is data hosted, how is it encrypted, and what is the breach notification process?
5

The teacher and administrator experience

  • Can I see the gradebook from a teacher's view, not an admin's view?Demos default to the admin interface. The teacher interface is where adoption lives or dies.
  • How does a teacher take attendance in 60 seconds or less?Ask them to show you the shortest path from opening the app to submitting attendance for a class.
  • How long does a new teacher take to get productive on their own?The answer reveals how intuitive the platform actually is.
  • What do your lowest-rated reviews on G2 or Capterra say?Every platform has weak spots. Asking directly signals you've done homework and will find the answer anyway.
6

The family experience

  • Show me the family portal on a mobile phone.Not a desktop demo - a phone. This is how parents use it.
  • How does a parent get notified when their child is absent?Watch the entire workflow from teacher attendance submission to parent notification.
  • What percentage of your customers' families actively use the portal?A family portal that nobody uses is not a family portal.
  • Can families message teachers directly?And can teachers control when and how they receive those messages?
7

Product roadmap and company stability

  • What are the three most significant features you've shipped in the last 12 months?Specific recent releases reveal active development. Vague answers reveal the opposite.
  • What is on your roadmap for the next 12 months?Not a vision - specific features with approximate timelines.
  • Is the company profitable and independent, or backed by private equity?PE-backed SIS vendors have a pattern of raising prices and cutting support after acquisition.
  • What happens to our contract and data if you're acquired?K‑12 SIS is a consolidating market. The answer matters for a multi‑year contract.
  • How do customers submit and influence product feedback?A vendor with no mechanism for customer input tends to build what their largest customers want.
8

Integrations and data

  • How does the SIS sync with Google Classroom or Canvas?Watch the rostering workflow. Ask what happens when a student enrolls mid-year.
  • What happens to our data if we leave?You should be able to export your full student records in a portable format at any time, not just at contract end.
  • Do you support OneRoster or other interoperability standards?Important for districts and networks with multiple tools that need to stay in sync.
  • What API access is available and at what cost?If your school uses any custom tools or has technical staff, API availability may matter for future integrations.
What to watch for

Red flags during an SIS demo.

These aren't disqualifiers on their own - but each one is worth probing before you move forward.

Won't show live data

Demos that only show pre-built scenarios or won't let you navigate freely are hiding something about the daily experience.

Pricing requires a follow-up

If the rep can't give you a real number in the first meeting, pricing is likely complicated, high, or both.

Deflects on support questions

"Our customers love our support" is not a response time SLA. Push for specifics.

References are from large districts only

A platform that primarily serves districts will be calibrated for their needs - not for yours.

Roadmap is vague or unscheduled

"AI is coming" with no timeline means it may not be coming for a long time.

Implementation timeline is "variable"

Variable implementation means the vendor doesn't have a repeatable process.

Ready to put these questions to Alma?

We'll show you live data, give you a real price, and answer every question on this list - including the uncomfortable ones.

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