Faster Records, Smarter Transfers
Every year, thousands of Michigan students move between schools and districts – often because of housing changes, job shifts, or foster care placements. In the past, those moves meant weeks of waiting before children could get tutoring, special education, or language support. Paper files and disconnected systems left teachers and counselors without the information they needed, and students lost valuable learning time.
To solve this, the Michigan Department of Education, Michigan’s Center for Educational Performance and Information (CEPI), and the Michigan Data Hub created the Portable Student Data Records Service, known as Snack-Pack. Built on the Ed-Fi Data Standard, this statewide system connects districts so student records transfer instantly when a child enrolls in a new school.
The Right Support, Right Away
As soon as a student enrolls, their new school can request a Snack-Pack through the MiDataHub portal. The secure record includes a clear summary of the student’s academic history and any services they were receiving – from tutoring to language support to special education – along with alerts like upcoming IEP (individualized education program) meetings. Principals, counselors, and special education teams are notified immediately, so support can start on day one.
That means no guessing and no delays. Before Snack-Pack, services could be held up for weeks or even months. Today, more than 90% of transferring students receive the help they need within 24 hours. The system has also saved districts hundreds of administrative hours each year, freeing staff to spend more time with students. More than 250 districts and 1.5 million student records are now connected in real time.
Stephanie Gabriel, a technical specialist at Washtenaw Intermediate School District, calls this quick support a game-changer for districts serving new students: “It gives instant access to key information on our students, ensuring every student receives the services they’re entitled to, without delay.”
From Paperwork to Real Support
Snack-Pack isn’t just about moving records faster – it’s about making sure children get the services they need from their first day at a new school. By building on the Ed-Fi Data Standard, Michigan has shown how schools can remove delays, cut down on guesswork, and give every student a stronger start.
For Jennifer Snage of Clarenceville School District, the impact is clear. As she explained, “Snack Pack is a valuable addition to the student enrollment process, allowing us to quickly identify students in special populations. With this instant access to data, we meet students’ needs from the very first day of school, rather than discovering later that they require additional support.”
Next, the state plans to connect Snack-Pack with other early support tools, like literacy and early warning systems, and to add dashboards that help educators see trends and respond quickly. With these improvements, school transfers can shift from being a setback to being a smooth hand-off, so students keep learning without missing a beat.
