Question about school/access to grades

christy2125 · September 2012

Hello, so I don't post on here much, but I wanted to ask a question to those of you who may have gone through this before.

My SD's BM recently moved which resulted in my SD changing school districts. This new district everything has gone green, they don't send anything home to the parents at all; anything we need to see is all on this website.

Our problem is that there is only one website access per family, that is how the district set it up they outright said they didn't think about blended families when setting up the site and BM has another child enrolled in the school so if we were to share passwords we would have access to all of their families personal records.

The other issue which all of us are annoyed about is that on this same site is how they communicate emergencies, if you need to come get your child ect. My DH is not anywhere on any of this it is only BM and her DH. BM made the point to me that if there was an emergency it's my DH that should be notified not her H.

Anyways; we have contacted the school they understand the situation but it's the way the website and the district as whole operates. We are waiting back to see what if anything they are willing to do on this level but if they say they can't change it, what would you ladies do?

Thanks for any suggestions; we are trying to be proactive about this as this will be the only way to get any information from the school from now on.

Hopeforthebest · September 2012

If the school says "oh sorry it's nothing that can be changed" call or go higher to the district/superintendant's office.

I'm sorry but with divorce rates at 50% there is definately SOMETHING they can do to change a software program.

dor79 · September 2012

Would it be possible for you to be the registered "family" for SD and BM be the registered "family" for her child. That way you can give BM the access to get into your family account and not see information about her other child.

fellesferie · September 2012

Sorry, but I think whoever you're talking to is full of crap. I'd keep going up the chain until you get a different answer. I'd also make plans to be at the next school board meeting.

The way they've set up their web page(s) doesn't make any sense. Parents have a legal right to information about their children that supersedes the school's "right" to be environmentally conscious (or bad at the internet).

Kudos to you for being proactive and taking initiative.

Holly_1007 · September 2012

I agree with PP's keep going up the ladder until you find someone that is willing to make a change. is it possible for them to "enroll" SD twice in the program, so she has an act with BM and an act with you guys?

lvnlife3184 · September 2012

even with everything on the computer program, the main office / nurse there should have emergency cards with the mother and fathers names on there along with 1 or more other emergency contacts. I'd double check about that part at least because thats pretty important in case BM were not available if something were to happen.

twister22 · September 2012

That is such BS. I agree with PPs - go up the ladder until you get an answer you like. I also like the idea one PP said about being at the next board meeting, as well as seeing if they can create a family account for just SD and have YH have the password that he shares with BM, and then they have an account for SD's little sis that BM would only have access to.

Hopeforthebest · September 2012

lvnlife3184:
even with everything on the computer program, the main office / nurse there should have emergency cards with the mother and fathers names on there along with 1 or more other emergency contacts. I'd double check about that part at least because thats pretty important in case BM were not available if something were to happen.

THIS^^^

Or you know, there was a power outage and they couldn't GET to the info in the computer.

christy2125 · September 2012

dor79:
Would it be possible for you to be the registered "family" for SD and BM be the registered "family" for her child. That way you can give BM the access to get into your family account and not see information about her other child.

That's what we were going to do originally, but apparently the school had already set up my SD on the family acct with her sister and they are trying to say that there is no "unenrolling" her from their account.

christy2125 · September 2012

holly71087:
I agree with PP's keep going up the ladder until you find someone that is willing to make a change. is it possible for them to "enroll" SD twice in the program, so she has an act with BM and an act with you guys?

No they don't allow you to enroll a child twice in this program, that's the other part of this whole problem. They enroll by student ID so thats their reasoning behind why we can't enroll her twice.

christy2125 · September 2012

Thanks everyone for your suggestions, all of us are annoyed right now to say the least. I think I will let BM know about the suggestion to go to a board meeting so we can bring this up. We cannot be the only family that is blended in this district, and I for one hate the fact that the assumption is being made by the school district that the father wouldn't want to be notified if something happened to his kid or what was going on with his child's grades. I still have not heard anything back from the office on this so I think I will contact the central office on Monday if I haven't heard anything by then...

christy2125 · September 2012

Hopeforthebest:

lvnlife3184:
even with everything on the computer program, the main office / nurse there should have emergency cards with the mother and fathers names on there along with 1 or more other emergency contacts. I'd double check about that part at least because thats pretty important in case BM were not available if something were to happen.

THIS^^^

Or you know, there was a power outage and they couldn't GET to the info in the computer.

LOL that was my first question too, apparently if there is a major power outage, there is "supposed" be a mass email that notifies parents of such an event... I don't know how this would happen but whatever, we need to be listed as contacts on her school, we have the legal right to be on there, or at least MH has that legal right to be a contact at his daughters school, and the way it's set up right now, they are looking at her SF as her BD.

Littlejen22 · September 2012

christy2125:
holly71087:
I agree with PP's keep going up the ladder until you find someone that is willing to make a change.  is it possible for them to "enroll" SD twice in the program, so she has an act with BM and an act with you guys?

 No they don't allow you to enroll a child twice in this program, that's the other part of this whole problem. They enroll by student ID so thats their reasoning behind why we can't enroll her twice.

Then tell them to assign a new id and use the new one. That is BS they will not help especially when BM is on your side.

jvaeth2012 · September 2012

I'm so sorry that you have to deal with this!!

My son's school also allows for online access to grades, messages, lunch accounts, etc., however they have it set up so that both parents are allowed access. It can be done and they should fix it.

We also have the school reach system that calls when there's important info. Not only do I get a call but so does my H, and my sons BF.

Ilumine · September 2012

Does your CO specifically state that your DH is allowed equal access to the school records? If so, show up at the school with the Court Ordered, ie LEGAL DOCUMENT and let them know that they are required to fulfill this court ordered item.

You don't care how, but you will be given direct access to her records or you will contact your lawyer. The go to your lawyer.

christy2125 · September 2012

The CO doesn't specifically state this. In our state they say that during each parents time they are able to have access to all records; so I guess technecally my H could go up to the school with that and it might be enough....it was really weird the way everything was set up in the CO, and because we have always had such a good relationship with BM we have never bothered with getting it changed; this is the first time we have ever run across anything like this before.

Ginlyn0 · September 2012

wendilea:
FERPA requires ALL parents to have access to their child's academic records. Whoever you are talking to at the school is an idiot. Go up the ladder - principal, superintendent, etc, until you get a reasonable response. Certainly you are not the only blended family in the district.
We have access to all SK's records with our own little ID/password. We also get weekly emails from the teachers. So I call BS on whoever you've been talking to.

This. Also, what program do they use? Between the 2 school districts for my DD and my SKs I've seen a few programs. If it's one I know, I could tell you if it can do it. Currently, both of our districts use the same program but different versions of it and they are set up differently so we have additional access to some things on my SKs site that we don't on my DD's such as lunch money, nurses visits, ect. but they still allow separate passwords and user names for BOTH parents and have a "Family 2" information spot.

christy2125 · September 2012

I should clarify that on the teacher level they've been great! We have been getting the weekly agenda for her class and stuff; but the way this district has set up their grading system the teachers hands are tied to an extent, I don't want to have to go through this every year with the teachers having to go around the districts website. I just want to have access to her grades.

After going up to the school to pick my SD up, even the principal has been great about trying to get a solution to this who situation, they just were stupid when they didn't think about the blended family part of the equation.

I think this is a case of the paper pushers that don't deal with families and don't want to change things.

Holly_1007 · September 2012

christy2125:
I should clarify that on the teacher level they've been great! We have been getting the weekly agenda for her class and stuff; but the way this district has set up their grading system the teachers hands are tied to an extent, I don't want to have to go through this every year with the teachers having to go around the districts website. I just want to have access to her grades. After going up to the school to pick my SD up, even the principal has been great about trying to get a solution to this who situation, they just were stupid when they didn't think about the blended family part of the equation. I think this is a case of the paper pushers that don't deal with families and don't want to change things.

It is great that everyone is being cooperative, don't let this put up a roadblock though, there is a flaw in their system that needs to be fixed. end of story. do not stop fighting them.

christy2125 · September 2012

gin9874:
wendilea:
FERPA requires ALL parents to have access to their child's academic records.  Whoever you are talking to at the school is an idiot.  Go up the ladder - principal, superintendent, etc, until you get a reasonable response.  Certainly you are not the only blended family in the district.
We have access to all SK's records with our own little ID/password.  We also get weekly emails from the teachers.  So I call BS on whoever you've been talking to.
This. Also, what program do they use? Between the 2 school districts for my DD and my SKs I've seen a few programs. If it's one I know, I could tell you if it can do it. Currently, both of our districts use the same program but different versions of it and they are set up differently so we have additional access to some things on my SKs site that we don't on my DD's such as lunch money, nurses visits, ect. but they still allow separate passwords and user names for BOTH parents and have a "Family 2" information spot.

It is skyward family access...

Ginlyn0 · September 2012

Skyward is what both of our districts currently use so it can be done on Skyward. We are listed as the second family for my SKs and DH has his own user name and password in which we can also update our own contact info, ect. So I would definitely be talking to someone else higher up in the district outside of the school itself if they can't figure it out.

christy2125 · September 2012

gin9874:
Skyward is what both of our districts currently use so it can be done on Skyward. We are listed as the second family for my SKs and DH has his own user name and password in which we can also update our own contact info, ect. So I would definitely be talking to someone else higher up in the district outside of the school itself if they can't figure it out.

That is awesome to know! Thanks for letting me know, I will Definitely be calling the central office first thing in the morning on Monday. Just knowing that someone else uses this system with a blended family makes me much more confident that we will get a resolution.

TheBuddha · September 2012

Hopeforthebest:
If the school says "oh sorry it's nothing that can be changed" call or go higher to the district/superintendant's office.
I'm sorry but with divorce rates at 50 there is definately SOMETHING they can do to changenbsp;a software program.

I agree. And whether they can or not, they NEED to fix it. That is the most ridiculous set up.

LindaLamour · September 2012

I think that the school could at least communicate with you via snail mail until they can get you access via the internet. Not very "green," I know, but it's a step toward fairness.

socloudy99 · September 2012

Yeah they are giving you the run around.

BM#2 has two kids with my H and 2 kids with her current H that all attend the same school system. We let them know only BM#2 and H's kids should be linked with "xxx" contact info and BM#2's other children should be linked with "xxx" contact info. They had no problem with it. We share the login/password with BM#2 for my H's children only.

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