Communication between educators and students has changed due to Senate Bill 181, commonly known as SB 181. As a result, educators are no longer allowed to contact their students via social media, text, or phone calls. However, in Whitley County, educators are collaborating to find alternative methods for electronic communication that comply with SB 181.
The Whitley County Board of Education (BOE) held a special meeting on Thursday, July 24, at the Central Office in Williamsburg. The meeting focused on updates regarding SB 181. The board introduces a new app, ParentSquare, designed to enhance communication while still following guidelines.
The Whitley County BOE has highlighted SB 181, a bill that received unanimous support from both Democratic and Republican legislators in Frankfort. This legislation, which has recently passed, prohibits technological communication between teachers and students. There is a need for guidelines to facilitate effective communication between teachers and their students.
Whitley County Superintendent John Siler said, “I’m not sure they got it exactly right.” The majority of educators would likely agree with Siler, recognizing the importance of the bill, while also acknowledging its blind spots.
Siler informed the board, saying, “I do know that they are planning on meeting in January when the legislative session starts, and they’re taking suggestions. They’re listening to superintendents, they’re listening to tech people, and I think they are being very responsive to our concerns.”
The Whitley County BOE plans to adopt a platform to use for parents. As some may know, Remind is a common app used by teachers, parents, and students for communication, among others. Due to SB 181, Remind will no longer work. Whatever platform the district plans to use, it must be archived so that it can be used as evidence if needed.
Kevin Anderson, Tech Coordinator for the district, adopted ParentSquare, a software that offers many features similar to Remind, but takes it several steps further.
ParentSquare is a safe, secure, and modern approach to communication and collaboration between school and home. Anderson provided an overview of ParentSquare and its potential benefits for the district concerning SB 181.
“When we were tasked with this, we looked at it as an opportunity to better our district and to increase the communication flow more effectively,” Anderson said.ParentSquare does more than just one-on-one communication between school staff and families. It also enhances communication by providing information, permission slips, attendance, and language assistance.
ParentSquare plans to automate attendance messages for the district, allowing parents to respond electronically. Parents can do that through the app on their phone without ever having to write a note that could get lost or misplaced. Anderson explained, “It gives them time back in their day to be more efficient with other duties, rather than calling home to parents to see where the student could be.”
The app also allows the district to identify students with inaccurate data, including phone numbers and email addresses, or those with no data at all.
Anderson explained, “It is important we have accurate data. We can send out a message from the district level… it will tell us who got the text, who got the voice call, who didn’t answer the voice call, and whose call went to voicemail.”
Another feature that ParentSquare has is language transcription. If you have parents who speak another language, they can change their language settings to their preferred language. When notifications, texts, emails, or even calls are sent to that parent, it will be translated into their preferred language.
Anderson explained, “We have replaced our One Call Blackboard system with this platform. We were able to save money, retire a system that was dated, and gain more productivity.”
The app’s layout is similar to that of most social media pages, making it easy for parents to adapt quickly. One notable feature allows users to schedule posts for social media. When you post information in ParentSquare, it will also be shared on any other platforms that the community needs to see.
Other notable features include a personalized calendar, a space to store class photos, a section where parents can view their student’s homework, and a section for submitting permission slips. The district is aware some parents aren’t tech-savvy. If a parent brings in a paper permission slip, the teacher can store it in ParentSquare with no issue.
