Issues with other states

This week I came in to find two data requests waiting for me. The first was to organize data about alternative schools in South Phoenix, which, though time consuming, is fairly simple. Once I figure out what exactly I need to report I should have it all somewhere in the databases. The other is the complicated one.

For a conference bid, I'm not sure exactly why, we need to report data about Arizona and all of our bordering states. This wouldn't be that difficult except that the data requested is nearly impossible to obtain. The organization wants the last day of school for all of the states, which is determined by the district or individual school. Therefore I'll have to generalize all of that information and hope it is acceptable. They also want the testing dates for state-wide standardized tests for each state through 2012. As far as I can find, Arizona is the only state that publishes test dates out that far. California has them published through 2010, but they have 9 test dates per year. Sorting this out is not fun, but I suppose it will help me learn how to deal with difficult requests. At least the experience is useful!