Staff Writer
At the beginning of the 2013-2014 school
year, Wake County changed its student/parent portal from the Student/Parent
Access Network, or SPAN, to the PowerSchool program. These programs permit
teachers to enter grades into the online grade book which can be seen through a
student or parent account, allowing the users to stay up to date with the
student’s work and grades. It also aids in the scheduling process by generating
student schedules. Although both systems had the same function, the switch was
made to bring in a more contemporary system.
Unfortunately, the switch was not free
of trouble. “It was very difficult and not as smooth as we hoped,” said Apex
principal Matthew Wight. “Switching from SPAN to a new system made the
scheduling process very hard.” The switch from programs jumbled up some student
schedules and even left some classes that the students signed up for out of the
schedule altogether. “We had more scheduling problems than we had ever had
before,” Wight said.
Teachers also had trouble with the new
system. The system was down three of five days last week, making it hard for
teachers to enter grades. “It was down until five one day, so I had to stay
until seven to enter grades,” said science teacher Carolynn Thomason. “Using
the features even with training has also been a problem.”
The events that set the change into
motion started three years ago. The state of North Carolina won the “Race to
the Top” competition, a federal program made to incentivize states with schools
that “spur classroom innovation.” The state won $400 million over four years
and used some of that money to put in place a statewide student/parent portal
program. The state chose the PowerSchool program and implemented it this past
summer.
Despite the rough switching process, schools are optimistic about this new program’s
long term effects. The issues with the system’s reliability are expected to go
down with time. The new system also builds upon what SPAN accomplished, while
introducing new concepts, like an iPhone app. In regards to the future, Wight
said, “We think that the new program will eventually be a good system to have
in place.”
