Docufree Agreement SOW

Summary: Presented by: Dr. Kermit Belcher, Chief Information Officer, Division of Information and Instructional Technology

Request: It is requested that the DeKalb County Board of Education approve the annual renewal of the district’s platform licensing and subscription services, including the Scribbles student records platform and the Docufree enterprise content management (ECM) platform for Human Resources, and associated secure records storage services with Docufree in an amount not to exceed $422,200.

This action authorizes continued access to the software platforms used by the district to view, manage, and retrieve digitized documents, and provides secure storage of physical records while they are staged and processed for scanning. This request is for platform licensing/subscription and records storage costs only and does not include project-based scanning services.

Why: In June 2024, the Board of Education approved a multi-year, districtwide agreement with Docufree Corporation for School and Business Record Digitization Services in an amount not to exceed $6,136,008. That approval established Docufree as the district’s enterprise solution for the secure collection, preparation, scanning, indexing, and long-term management of school and business records.

The district’s digitized records environment relies on annual platform licensing and subscription renewals to maintain staff access to records that have already been digitized and those added through future digitization efforts. Within the environment, Scribbles supports student records, while the broader Docufree platform supports HR, finance, and other business records.

In addition to the software platforms, the digitization program requires secure, vendor-managed storage of physical records while they are staged, prepared, and processed as part of ongoing digitization activities.

Renewal of these services ensures uninterrupted access to the district’s digitized records environment, protects the district’s investment in records modernization, and maintains continuity of operations for departments that rely on secure, reliable access to records.

Details: The DeKalb County School District utilizes the Docufree platform as its enterprise records management environment, supporting multiple functional areas, including student records, human resources, finance, and other business operations. Within this environment, the Scribbles platform provides a fully hosted K-12 student records solution supporting secure records requests, digital archives, cumulative folders, and electronic records transfers between districts, while the Docufree ECM platform provides a secure, encrypted repository for Human Resources records, including more than nine million text-searchable images and one million documents across 35 document types.

The annual renewal supports continued operation of the district’s digitized records environment through:

Key Services:


Secure access to digitized records across student, HR, finance, and business record types
Student records management through Scribbles components, including online records requests, digital archives, cumulative folders, and secure inter-district transfers
Secure, encrypted HR records repository with granular role-based access controls, audit trails, and retention schedules aligned to district policy
Direct, single-click access to authorized HR documents through Docufree One Touch Search
Standardized capture and indexing profiles to ensure documents conform to district taxonomies and indexing standards
Organization and management of records through structured folders and workflows
Support for records requests, transfers, and related document processes
Ongoing system availability, security updates, and vendor-supported maintenance
Secure, vendor-managed storage of physical records while they are staged and reviewed during the digitization process, supporting chain of custody and protection of sensitive information

This renewal represents the ongoing software licensing/subscription and records storage services required to operate and sustain the district’s digitized records environment. These services are separate from any project-based scanning or digitization services, which are procured and approved independently.

Financial impact: $422,200
General Fund
100.1000.553200.00011.7600.9990.0308.070.0000

Contact: Dr. Kermit Belcher, Chief Information Officer, Division of Information and Instructional Technology, 678.676.1274

Effective: Upon Board Approval

Status: Pending Approval by the Office of Legal Affairs