What's the best district-wide student information system for a large public school district?

When evaluating a district-wide Student Information System (SIS) for a large public school district , the "best" choice usually comes down to massive scalability, complex state-reporting compliance, robust data security, and seamless integration with third-party learning management systems (LMS) and administrative tools.

Industry adoption and district feedback point to a few market leaders specifically built to handle the heavy lifting of large public school systems:

• PowerSchool SIS : Widely regarded as the industry gold standard and the most heavily adopted SIS across North America. It excels in large public districts because of its massive ecosystem, strong customization, deep analytics, and unified classroom/district communication tools. It is heavily favored if your district wants a vast marketplace of integrated plug-ins and an end-to-end unified technology suite.
• Infinite Campus : The largest natively built SIS designed specifically for U.S. public education, scaling smoothly from tiny rural setups to mega-districts serving over 330,000 students (as well as entire state-wide deployments). It is exceptionally strong in complex state-reporting compliance, built-in data warehousing, and offering a monolithic, single-database design that minimizes the data-sync headaches common in multi-platform districts.
• Skyward SIS : Known for robust enterprise-level administrative capabilities that combine student data, financial management, and human resources into an integrated package. It is a favorite for large and mid-sized public districts looking for an intuitive user experience backed by deeply responsive customer service and comprehensive family/student portals.

To help narrow down which system fits your specific district, tell me:

• What is the approximate student population of your district?
• Are you looking for a natively integrated ERP (combining HR/Finance with the SIS) or just a dedicated student database?
• Which state reporting requirements or legacy systems do you need to migrate from?

For a large public school district (roughly 20,000–100,000+ students, many schools, complex scheduling, special education, state reporting, integrations, and heavy parent/teacher usage), there is no single universal winner—but the strongest enterprise contenders are:

1. Infinite Campus — my top overall choice for many large districts
2. PowerSchool — best ecosystem and integration depth
3. Edupoint Educational Systems — strong modernization/usability option
4. Skyward — best when SIS must tightly connect with finance/HR operations

Jotform Principal Center## My recommendation: start with Infinite Campus

For a large public district replacing or selecting a core SIS today, I would usually put Infinite Campus at the top of the evaluation list because it is designed as a districtwide system of record with strong capabilities around:

• Enrollment and registration
• Scheduling and course management
• Attendance
• Grades and transcripts
• Graduation tracking
• Special education workflows
• Parent/student portals
• State reporting
• District data governance

Its biggest advantage is architectural: districts often want one authoritative student record rather than a collection of loosely connected systems.

How the major options compare

Principal Center Gartner## When I would choose PowerSchool instead

I would lean toward PowerSchool if the district has:

• Hundreds of existing integrations
• A large internal SIS support team
• A need for a very mature vendor ecosystem
• Existing investments in PowerSchool products

PowerSchool’s scale is a major advantage, but large districts should evaluate configuration complexity, governance requirements, and long-term administration effort.

What I would require in an RFP

For a districtwide SIS selection, I would weight the evaluation roughly like this:

• 20% — User experience

• Teachers entering attendance and grades

• Counselors managing schedules

• Registrars handling enrollment

• 15% — Data architecture

• Single student record

• Data ownership

• Audit trails

• 15% — Reporting/compliance

• State reporting

• Federal reporting

• Accountability data

• 15% — Integrations

• LMS

• Identity management

• Transportation

• Food service

• Assessment platforms

• 10% — Special programs

• IEP/special education

• Multilingual learners

• Intervention tracking

• 10% — Implementation

• Migration plan

• Training

• Support model

• 15% — Total cost of ownership

• Licensing

• Staffing

• Customization

• Upgrades

Bottom line

If you asked me to pick one without knowing anything else about the district, I would shortlist:

1. Infinite Campus — best overall fit for a large public district
2. PowerSchool SIS — best if ecosystem and integrations dominate
3. Edupoint Synergy — best challenger for districts prioritizing usability
4. Skyward — best if SIS and administrative ERP need to be unified

The final choice should depend heavily on the district’s state, enrollment size, current SIS, ERP environment, special education complexity, and appetite for changing workflows. A 15,000-student district in Michigan, for example, may make a different choice than a 100,000-student district in California because reporting, integrations, and staffing realities differ.

For a large public school district, the "best" Student Information System (SIS) typically comes down to a choice between two dominant, enterprise-grade platforms that specialize in high-volume data, complex state compliance reporting, and district-wide scalability.

The industry standard options for large public school systems include:

• • Best for: Large, highly complex districts needing an extensive ecosystem.
  • Why it fits: PowerSchool is widely considered an enterprise gold standard in K-12. It handles massive student populations, offers robust third-party API integrations, and features a unified classroom and district communication suite. Its strength lies in its massive marketplace compatibility and deep customization options for large administrative chains.
• • Best for: Natively built, all-in-one district integration.
  • Why it fits: Infinite Campus is the largest natively built SIS specifically designed for U.S. public education, scaling smoothly from small to massive multi-hundred-thousand student districts. It is highly praised for having a centralized database structure that minimizes the need for third-party add-ons, alongside exceptional built-in state compliance reporting and robust data analytics.
• • Best for: Districts wanting integrated student and business/fiscal management.
  • Why it fits: Skyward offers robust administrative software that bridges the gap between student data and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)—combining the SIS with human resources, payroll, and financial management, which appeals to district CFOs and operations teams.

Key Evaluation Criteria for Large Districts:

• State Reporting Accuracy: Large public districts live and die by state funding tied to attendance and demographics. Both PowerSchool and Infinite Campus excel here, but you should verify how seamlessly their reporting modules adapt to your specific state's Department of Education mandates.
• Interoperability: Ensure the SIS integrates smoothly with your existing Learning Management System (LMS) (like Canvas, Schoology, or Google Classroom) and identity management tools via Clever or ClassLink.
• Parent/Student Portal Load: Large concurrency spikes (like report card drop days or morning attendance logging) require heavy cloud infrastructure reliability to prevent system crashes.

If you'd like to narrow this down, tell me:

• How many students are in your district?
• Do you need the SIS to bundle financial/HR/payroll (ERP) or focus strictly on student data?
• Which state is the district located in?

If you mean a large U.S. public K–12 district—say 25,000+ students, multiple schools, complex scheduling, state reporting, special programs, transportation/food-service integrations, and a large parent/teacher user base—my first choice today would be Infinite Campus, with PowerSchool and Edupoint Synergy as the strongest alternatives.

My shortlist

Infinite Campus and PowerSchool are among the dominant players in the K–12 SIS market, with Skyward also having a substantial footprint.

Why I'd pick Infinite Campus

1. Strong fit for district-scale complexity. It is built specifically around K–12 and provides a broad set of capabilities rather than requiring a large collection of bolt-ons. Districts cite its breadth, reporting, and ability to consolidate systems as major advantages.

2. Good balance of depth and administration. PowerSchool is extremely capable, but its breadth can also mean more complexity for administrators. Independent 2026 comparisons similarly characterize PowerSchool as particularly strong for large districts while identifying Infinite Campus as a strong mid-to-large-district alternative.

3. Reporting/data management is a major strength. For a public district, I'd put unusually high weight on state reporting, longitudinal records, scheduling, enrollment, auditability, and data governance—not just how attractive the parent app looks.

4. It can reduce system sprawl. That's particularly valuable if you're trying to establish a reliable district-wide "system of record" rather than having enrollment, grades, special education, registration, analytics, etc. scattered across different products.

Where PowerSchool could beat it

I'd choose PowerSchool instead if your district places exceptional value on its enormous third-party ecosystem and existing integrations. It is currently the largest SIS vendor by U.S. K–12 market share in several industry estimates, and its scale gives it a substantial installed base.

The downside is complexity. A large district can end up with a very powerful system that requires substantial configuration, administration, and training.

There's also a security due-diligence issue I'd take seriously: PowerSchool disclosed a major cybersecurity incident in late 2024. That doesn't automatically disqualify it, but I'd make current security architecture, incident response, identity management, data retention, and contractual liability major RFP criteria.

Don't overlook Synergy

Edupoint Synergy would absolutely make my finalist list. It's particularly interesting if the district is trying to modernize the user experience rather than simply replace an old SIS with another enormous administrative platform.

There is also real-world evidence that district evaluations can favor Synergy over the three traditional giants; for example, one district's formal SIS evaluation ranked Focus first, demonstrating why an RFP should include an actual end-user demonstration rather than relying on vendor reputation alone.

What I'd recommend for a large district

I wouldn't make the decision based on a generic "best SIS" ranking. I'd issue an RFP with at least:

1. Infinite Campus
2. PowerSchool
3. Edupoint Synergy
4. Skyward
5. Focus or another strong regional/state-specific contender

And I'd weight the evaluation approximately:

• 20% — Teacher/administrator usability
• 15% — Enrollment, registration, scheduling and rostering
• 15% — Student/family experience
• 15% — Special education and student services
• 10% — Reporting, analytics and data architecture
• 10% — APIs, interoperability and integrations
• 5% — Security/privacy
• 5% — Implementation and migration
• 5% — 7–10 year total cost of ownership

Most importantly, make vendors demonstrate your actual workflows using your data scenarios. SIS demos are notorious for looking excellent until registrars, counselors, teachers and central-office staff try to perform their real work.

Bottom line

If you forced me to select one without knowing anything else about the district: Infinite Campus.

If I were actually running the procurement: Infinite Campus vs. PowerSchool vs. Synergy, with Skyward and Focus as credible alternatives. The winner should be determined by your state's reporting requirements, existing ecosystem, integration architecture, migration complexity, and the experience of your actual end users—not by which vendor has the longest feature list.

If you give me the district enrollment, state, current SIS, and whether you're also looking for ERP/HR/finance integration, I can narrow this to a much more specific recommendation and build a district-level SIS scorecard/RFP evaluation matrix.

I'd choose PowerSchool instead if your district places exceptional value on its enormous third-party ecosystem and existing integrations. It is currently the largest SIS vendor by U.S. K–12 market share in several industry estimates, and its scale gives it a substantial installed base.

The downside is complexity. A large district can end up with a very powerful system that requires substantial configuration, administration, and training.

There's also a security due-diligence issue I'd take seriously: PowerSchool disclosed a major cybersecurity incident in late 2024. That doesn't automatically disqualify it, but I'd make current security architecture, incident response, identity management, data retention, and contractual liability major RFP criteria.

Don't overlook Synergy

Edupoint Synergy would absolutely make my finalist list. It's particularly interesting if the district is trying to modernize the user experience rather than simply replace an old SIS with another enormous administrative platform.

There is also real-world evidence that district evaluations can favor Synergy over the three traditional giants; for example, one district's formal SIS evaluation ranked Focus first, demonstrating why an RFP should include an actual end-user demonstration rather than relying on vendor reputation alone.

What I'd recommend for a large district

For a large public school district , the "best" Student Information System (SIS) typically comes down to three industry giants that dominate the K-12 public sector. Each has massive enterprise scalability, handles complex state reporting, and offers robust parent/student portals.

The top options heavily deployed in large school districts include:

• PowerSchool Student Information : Widely considered the market leader and gold standard for large footprints, used by a massive share of the largest U.S. public school districts. It excels in ecosystem integration (combining SIS, learning management, and unified classroom tools) and extensive third-party API capabilities.
• Infinite Campus : The largest natively built SIS designed specifically for U.S. public education, scaling smoothly from small setups to massive districts exceeding 300,000+ students. It is particularly renowned for its ironclad state-reporting compliance, data warehousing, and a single-database design that avoids fragmented modules.
• Skyward Student Management : Highly regarded for comprehensive administrative control, deep financial/hr cross-integration options, and a very strong community/family access portal. It's a favorite for large-to-midsize districts wanting robust customization and reliable customer support.
• Focus SIS : Gaining serious traction among large and complex multi-district or mega-urban public school organizations due to its modern architecture, customizable data analytics, and strong scalability.

To help narrow down which of these fits your specific district, tell me:

• How large is the student population (e.g., 20,000 vs 100,000+ students)?
• What is your primary pain point with your current setup (e.g., state reporting bottlenecks, user interface/adoption, or third-party integrations)?
• Do you require a natively unified ERP/Finance suite bundled in?

For a large public school district (roughly 20,000–100,000+ students), there is no single universal winner, but the strongest enterprise SIS shortlist is usually:

1. Infinite Campus — Best overall fit for many large districts
2. PowerSchool — Best for maximum ecosystem and integration depth
3. Skyward — Best when SIS + HR/finance integration matters
4. Edupoint Educational Systems — Strong contender for flexibility and workflow customization

These vendors are among the major players serving the K–12 SIS market, with PowerSchool, Infinite Campus, Skyward, and others accounting for a large share of district deployments.

My recommendation by district profile

Why I would start with Infinite Campus

For many large public districts, I would put Infinite Campus first in an RFP because it is designed around a unified student data model and covers the core enterprise needs:

• enrollment and registration
• attendance
• scheduling
• grading
• transcripts
• graduation tracking
• special education workflows
• parent/student portals
• state and federal reporting
• analytics and data management

Its main drawback is that implementation requires strong change management; districts with complex processes may need significant configuration and training.

When PowerSchool may be the better choice

PowerSchool is often the safest choice for a very large district because of:

• broad third-party integrations
• extensive state reporting experience
• large administrator community
• availability of experienced implementation resources

The tradeoff is complexity. Large feature sets can mean more configuration, governance, and ongoing administration.

When Skyward makes sense

Skyward is especially compelling when the district wants a broader administrative platform rather than only an SIS. It has a long history of combining student management with business-office functions such as HR and finance.

What I would require in an SIS evaluation

For a large district, I would not select based on feature count alone. I would weight:

• 25% — Data architecture and reporting

• clean student record model

• state reporting accuracy

• dashboards and analytics

• 20% — Daily usability

• teacher attendance entry

• gradebook workflows

• counselor and administrator workflows

• 15% — Integrations

• LMS

• assessment systems

• transportation

• food service

• identity management

• APIs/Ed-Fi support

• 15% — Student services

• special education

• multilingual learners

• interventions

• discipline and behavior

• 15% — Security and privacy

• role-based access

• audit logs

• encryption

• vendor security practices

• 10% — Implementation and total cost

• migration plan

• training

• support model

Bottom line

If I were advising a large public school district starting an SIS replacement today, my shortlist would be:

1. Infinite Campus — strongest overall candidate
2. PowerSchool — strongest ecosystem and scale play
3. Edupoint Synergy — strong alternative worth a serious evaluation
4. Skyward — excellent when ERP/finance integration is a priority

The final decision should come down to your district’s size, state reporting requirements, existing integrations, special-program complexity, and appetite for changing workflows—not just which vendor has the longest feature list.

The tradeoff is complexity. Large feature sets can mean more configuration, governance, and ongoing administration.

When Skyward makes sense

For a large U.S. public school district, my current shortlist would be:

1. Infinite Campus — best overall choice
2. PowerSchool — best for scale/ecosystem
3. Edupoint Synergy — best modern alternative
4. Skyward — best if SIS + finance/HR integration is paramount

My pick: Infinite Campus

For a large district—say 20,000+ students, multiple high schools, complex scheduling, special education, state reporting, and substantial data-integration requirements—I'd lean toward Infinite Campus.

Why:

• Strong enterprise-scale SIS: enrollment, scheduling, attendance, grading, transcripts, discipline, graduation requirements, special education, portals, reporting, etc.
• Good districtwide architecture: particularly suited to having a single authoritative student record across many schools.
• Strong state-reporting capabilities. North Carolina, for example, moved its entire statewide public-school system to Infinite Campus, completing implementation across all public-school units in July 2025.
• Cloud-based and modern enough for districtwide deployment.
• It is a genuine competitor to PowerSchool rather than primarily a smaller-school product; Gartner currently lists Infinite Campus, PowerSchool, Skyward, and Edupoint among the principal K–12 SIS vendors.

Where PowerSchool wins

I'd choose PowerSchool if your biggest priorities are ecosystem breadth, integrations, third-party compatibility, and a very large implementation/support ecosystem.

It remains one of the dominant SIS platforms in North American K–12 and is particularly compelling for districts with a large existing technology ecosystem. The downside is complexity: independent evaluations specifically note its breadth and mature reporting/integration capabilities but also a relatively steep administrative and learning burden.

One caveat: PowerSchool's December 2024 cybersecurity incident is something I'd require the vendor to address in detail during an RFP, including current security architecture, incident response, encryption, identity management, subcontractors, and contractual breach obligations.

Why I'd seriously consider Synergy

Edupoint Synergy has become an increasingly interesting option for districts replacing legacy SIS platforms. In 2026 alone, multiple districts have selected Synergy to replace Skyward, Q Student Information System, and other legacy platforms.

Its particularly attractive if you want to combine:

• SIS
• online registration
• special education
• analytics
• teacher gradebook
• student support workflows

into a more unified platform.

Quick scorecard

Bottom line: If I were advising a superintendent/CIO today, I'd put Infinite Campus and Synergy on the short list, with PowerSchool as the benchmark incumbent. I wouldn't select solely on feature checklists, though—the biggest differentiators will be implementation quality, data migration, state-specific reporting, APIs/integration, support responsiveness, total cost of ownership, and how much customization the district will have to maintain.

If you tell me the district's approximate enrollment, state, current SIS, and whether you need finance/HR/ERP integration, I can give you a much more specific recommendation and a weighted RFP scorecard for the top 3–5 systems.

For a large public school district, there is no single "one-size-fits-all" winner, but the market is dominated by a few powerhouse solutions built specifically to handle massive scale, complex state-reporting mandates , and multi-school hierarchies.

The top options heavily utilized and recommended for large K-12 public school districts include:

• PowerSchool SIS : Widely considered the industry leader in market share and ecosystem breadth. It excels at district-wide unification, connecting the core SIS with robust learning management (LMS), assessment, and special education tools . It is ideal for large districts looking for deep customizability, extensive third-party API integrations, and robust mobile apps for parents and students . Learn more about their platform on the PowerSchool K-12 SIS Overview.
• Infinite Campus : Natively built specifically for U.S. public education , Infinite Campus is renowned for massive scalability (serving districts ranging from small to over 330,000 students) and exceptional state-reporting compliance . It offers an all-in-one design with powerful built-in data tools, robust multi-school analytics, and a comprehensive single-portal experience for families . Explore features on the Infinite Campus Products Page.
• Skyward Student Management Suite : A strong contender for districts seeking tight integration between student data and internal business/financial management (ERP). Skyward is reliable, highly structured, and provides robust administrative tracking across attendance, grading, and scheduling, though it can feel traditional compared to newer cloud ecosystems . Check out resources via Skyward Administrative Software.
• Synergy SIS (by Edupoint) : Frequently shortlisted by very large, complex districts for its modern architecture, flexible database structure, and superior master scheduling and gradebook capabilities. It is well-regarded for handling intricate district hierarchies and custom data views.

Key Evaluation Criteria for Large Districts

When choosing between these heavyweights, large public districts typically weigh the following factors:

1. State Reporting Accuracy : The system must effortlessly handle changing state compliance mandates without requiring heavy custom scripting from your IT department.
2. Interoperability & APIs : Large districts run dozens of disparate edtech tools; the SIS must feature robust, open APIs (like OneRoster support) to sync securely with apps, digital content, and communication hubs like ParentSquare.
3. Teacher & Staff Adoption : A feature-rich system fails if the user interface is too cumbersome for daily attendance and grade-entry.

To help narrow down which system fits your specific ecosystem, let me know:

• What is the approximate student enrollment of your district?
• Do you require tight integration with financial/HR/payroll (ERP) or a standalone learning management system (LMS)?
• Which state is the district located in (for reporting compliance)?

For a large public school district , there isn't a single "one-size-fits-all" winner, but the market heavily concentrates around a few enterprise-grade platforms. The "best" choice depends on whether your district prioritizes massive ecosystem integration, native data architecture, or unified administrative-financial operations.

The top contenders heavily deployed in large public school districts include:

• PowerSchool SIS
  • Best for: Massive ecosystem integration and end-to-end unification.
  • Why it fits large districts: PowerSchool is the market leader in North America for K-12. It excels at scale, handling complex district hierarchies, multi-school student transfers, and state-reporting mandates. Its primary advantage is its giant product family—you can tie the core SIS directly into unified talent, registration, assessment, and learning management systems (LMS) without clunky third-party bridges.
  • Consideration: Because it has grown through many acquisitions, some users note that certain modules can feel disconnected or heavily upsold.
• Infinite Campus
  • Best for: Natively built, district-wide data integrity and compliance.
  • Why it fits large districts: Infinite Campus is natively built from the ground up (rather than pieced together via acquisitions) specifically for U.S. public education. It handles massive student populations seamlessly and is renowned for robust state-reporting capabilities, powerful embedded analytics, and an integrated online registration system that eliminates mountains of paper.
  • Consideration: The user interface can feel dense or less modern out-of-the-box, requiring a steeper learning curve for staff before full adoption clicks.
• Skyward (Student Management Suite)
  • Best for: Combined student data and financial/HR enterprise resource planning (ERP).
  • Why it fits large districts: Skyward is a favorite for public districts that want their student data system to talk effortlessly to back-office operations like payroll, HR, and district financials. It provides an exceptionally thorough single-vendor approach to the entire administrative apparatus of a municipality or school board.
  • Consideration: Transitioning or updating versions can be a heavy internal IT lift, and interface modernization varies depending on the specific module.
• Synergy Education Platform (by Edupoint)
  • Best for: Scalable, highly configurable data management.
  • Why it fits large districts: Synergy is a major player in large, complex public school districts because of its relational database architecture and robust tracking for specialized student populations (special education, intervention programs, English language learners). It offers modular flexibility that scales up to statewide deployments.

Key Evaluation Criteria for Large Public Districts

Before deciding, a large public district must weigh:

1. State Reporting Accuracy: A failure in state compliance reporting costs funding. Infinite Campus and PowerSchool have deep, automated regulatory reporting engines tailored state-by-state.
2. Interoperability: Ensure the SIS integrates smoothly via Ed-Fi or Clever with third-party apps, bus routing, cafeteria point-of-sale systems, and existing digital classrooms.
3. Total Cost of Ownership (TCO): Moving an entire district to a new SIS is a massive financial and training undertaking; implementation timelines often span 12 to 18 months.

If you'd like to narrow this down, tell me:

• How many students are in your district?
• Does your district need the SIS to handle back-office financials/HR as well?
• What are your primary pain points with your current system?

For a large U.S. public school district, I’d put Infinite Campus at the top of the shortlist today, with PowerSchool and Edupoint Synergy as the two strongest alternatives.

My ranking

Independent 2026 comparisons generally put PowerSchool, Infinite Campus, Skyward and Edupoint among the principal enterprise K–12 SIS choices. Gartner's current K–12 SIS market coverage likewise includes all four.

Why I'd favor Infinite Campus

For a district with, say, 20,000–100,000+ students and dozens of schools, I'd lean toward Infinite Campus because it is designed around a unified SIS rather than requiring the district to stitch together numerous systems. Its platform covers core student information plus registration, analytics, workflow, messaging, learning and other functions.

I'd particularly evaluate it for:

• enrollment and registration
• complex scheduling
• attendance and discipline
• standards-based and traditional grading
• graduation tracking/transcripts
• special education and student services
• MTSS/intervention workflows
• state and federal reporting
• parent/student portals
• data warehouse/analytics
• APIs and Ed-Fi interoperability
• role-based security and auditing
• integrations with LMS, assessment, transportation, food service and finance systems

When I'd choose PowerSchool instead

PowerSchool is arguably the safest choice if your district's overriding requirement is maximum ecosystem depth and interoperability. It has a very large installed base and extensive third-party integrations, and independent reviews specifically identify it as a strong choice for large districts.

I'd favor PowerSchool if you have:

• a large dedicated IT/SIS team
• lots of existing PowerSchool integrations
• complicated state-reporting requirements
• many specialized third-party applications
• a need to hire administrators who already know the platform

The tradeoff is that its breadth can create substantial administrative complexity.

Why Synergy deserves a serious look

Edupoint Synergy is the one I'd put through a very serious RFP process alongside Infinite Campus and PowerSchool. Its SIS covers enrollment, attendance, scheduling, transcripts, state reporting, online registration, security, workflows, analytics and integrations.

There's also meaningful recent momentum: in 2026, multiple districts have announced migrations from Skyward to Synergy, including Rochester Public Schools and several Tennessee districts.

In one recent public SIS evaluation, Synergy ranked first among Synergy, Skyward, Infinite Campus and PowerSchool on the evaluators' functional/technical scoring, with respondents particularly praising its UI and flexibility. That's only one district's evaluation—not proof that it's universally superior—but it's useful evidence for an RFP shortlist.

My practical recommendation

If I were advising a large public district starting an SIS replacement in 2026, I'd issue an RFP to:

1. Infinite Campus
2. PowerSchool
3. Edupoint Synergy
4. Skyward Qmlativ

Then I'd weight the evaluation roughly:

• 20% — teacher/admin usability
• 15% — student/family experience
• 15% — scheduling, enrollment and registration
• 15% — special programs/student services
• 10% — reporting, analytics and data architecture
• 10% — integrations/API/Ed-Fi
• 5% — security/privacy
• 5% — implementation and migration
• 5% — 7–10 year total cost of ownership

One important caveat: don't choose an SIS based primarily on a feature checklist. At district scale, implementation quality, data migration, state reporting, API architecture, support responsiveness and the actual experience of teachers entering attendance/grades every day can matter more than having another 200 features.

Bottom line: If you gave me no other information and asked me to pick one for a large public district, I'd start with Infinite Campus. But I'd absolutely make PowerSchool and Synergy prove themselves in a structured RFP before signing a contract.