The City School District of New Rochelle has launched its new Home Access Center which is being rolled out in stages. For now the service is just getting started and will be available to school district employees who are parents or guardians of children in the New Rochelle school system.
The Home Access Center will eventually allow all parents and guardians in New Rochelle to view online live-period-by-period attendance records, schedule and homeroom information, email links to teachers, transcript and GPA information (NRHS only), progress reports, report cards, and allow parents and guardians to check emergency contact information.
WShat happens to parents who have no computer access
What provision is being made for parents who do not use a computer? This seems like a lot of information that is put on line. (Or is this just records that are already on line?)
Who does not have computer access?
“What provision is being made for parents who do not use a computer?”
Peggy, come on. There is a lot wrong with the school system but this is not one of them.
Your question presupposes that there are people who, for whatever reason, choose not to use computers and so making student information available online is somehow unfair to those people. If that is your point, then that is a ridiculous argument.
There are some people who choose not to learn to drive or do not have a valid driver’s license. Is the government supposed to provide them chauffeured limousines? I don’t think so.
Some people do not like to use ATM machines. Is everyone else to be forced to use bank tellers because some people do not like ATMs?
If a non-driver wants to get around town they need to get a ride from someone else, call a taxi or use public transportion. Likewise, if a non-computer user wants to get access to information from the Home Access Center they need to get on someone else’s computer, have someone else pull up the information for them or use a public computer such as those available at the library.
In the meantime, there are still report cards sent home and parents can call the school to get attendance information and the like. Down the road, I would hope that all of this paperwork being sent to parents would cease except on an exception basis. The district has spent tens of millions of dollars on computers and software and connectivity. Nearly every family in New Rochelle has direct, immediate access to the web via a computer or smart phone. I would venture to say it is above 99%. The cost savings are obvious — you are talking about eliminating millions of pages of paper, ink costs, mailing costs and labor costs. For those obsessed with “Green” think trees not chopped down, chemicals not needed, fuel costs for mail trucks and so on.
I would rather deal with the tiny number of people who do not want to use a computer to get this information on an exception basis than deny this service to the many thousands of families who have access and want the convenience and added services this Home Access Center offers. It would be cheaper to hire someone to visit these parents on demand with a laptop and wireless internet access and pull up the data for them than to continue with the current 18th century approach towards communication used by the school now.
I am reacting because I hear this sort of thing all the time and it is an entirely bogus objection to using computers and the Internet to communicate with the public. The issue is a false one because there are plenty of FREE and PUBLIC computers connected to the Internet available to residents of New Rochelle. There is training available at the library as well.
The people who make this point (and I am not saying this applies to you) are really talking about convenient and free access to computers and the internet. People have a choice with this new system. They can buy a computer, pay $200 for an iPhone, go to the library 8 times a year to check mid-term and final grades for their kids online or visit the school and ask for a print out. If a parent is not willing to do any of these things then what makes you think mailing them a report card is going to get them interested in their own children’s progress at school?
Bottom line. In America today anyone who wants computer access has it so not using a system like this is a choice and people have the right to choose to be luddites if they want — just don’t force me to be one too.
As far as putting information online, the district already has a huge amount of information available on the web — every single email sent or received is available on the web, every file for every child with a disability is on the web, pretty much all of the information the district has is available on the web. The information is password-protected and behind various firewalls. So, this system is not more or less risky than any other system at the school.
What do you think is the greater risk for someone using your credit card to make unauthorized purchases? Someone is going to hack into your personal computer at your house and obtain your credit card information or someone is going to pick through your trash and obtain your credit information or a store clerk or waiter is going to copy down your credit card information when you make a purchase or someone is going to steal your purse?
Likewise, if someone wanted student report cards or student data there are many ways that information could be obtained and no one solution is “safe”. Someone can steal mail right from a mailbox, a postal worker could open the mail, a school employee could photocopy the information, a computer admin could open up a file and access the information.
If the criteria is that 100% of people should have access to information in the same exact way and that the method has 0% risk then we should have each parent go to the school in person every few weeks and their child’s teachers can go with them into a soundproof vault and whisper a grade into a parent’s ear.
Of course, some people are hearing impaired…