Technology — with all its grand advancements and accomplishments through the years — isn’t perfect.
That’s why school officials are asking parents to be patient as the district transitions from Infinite Campus Parent Portal system to PowerSchool Parent Portal this week.
“Like with any new system there are growing pains especially during the initial roll-out,” said Craig Tunks, the district’s director of technology and operations development.
“We have just distributed the parent access information to all students’ parents this week so a much larger number of users are looking to access the system at the same time than would normally happen during the school year, under normal operations.”
Similar to the old system, the new portal system allows parents access into the daily workings of Ridgefield Public Schools, including student assignments and grades.
Superintendent Deborah Low echoed Mr. Tunks’ message earlier this week when asked about parent complaints regarding the new system.
“It’s a process that requires patience,” she said. “Replacing one system with another isn’t something that happens immediately without any problems.”
Mr. Tunks said he expects that all the system to perform at “an appropriate speed” when users begin to access the system as part of normal operations — not all at the same time on the same day.
He offered these reminders for parents using the site:
• The letters received Monday are for parent access, not student access. The parent portal includes different information than the student portal does.
• Students will receive information after school begins.
• Parents will receive a different letter for each student. They can create one account and link it to all their children.
He added that anyone with a problem should send an email (with phone number) to powerschool@ridgefield.org and the information technology staff will respond as soon as possible.
“We are supporting over 8,000 users trying to gain access to the system,” he explained.
Warning: this may take some time.