Derrick Miller
DUNCAN — It’s been a year since the Duncan Board of Education approved purchasing the Infinite Campus computer systems for Duncan Public Schools. In that year, the DPS Technology Department has gradually introduced the system and began moving data.
At Tuesday’s school board meeting, Kathy Brown, supervisor of student services, informed the board about the parent portal, which will give parents and legal guardians access to information on their students.
With this portal, parents will be able to view information, including their students’ grades, schedules and teacher newsletters.
“These are real time grades,” Brown said.
The Web site includes safety features to ensure privacy, Brown said. She said parents will have to fill out a form to get an access code for the site. The code will give parents access to only their children’s information.
Brown said the forms will be sent home with students before Spring Break.
While parents of minor children won’t have any problems getting access to their children’s information, 18-year-old students will have to sign a waver form to grant access to their parents. Brown said their are 45 18-year-olds.
“We want this to be a really positive thing,” Brown said.
Pre-kindergarten and kindergarten students’ grades will be done by standards, including ratings like satisfactory. First- through 12th-graders will go on the traditional grades.
To give all parents access to the Web site and its information, the site is multi-lingual. It includes several languages aside from English and Spanish.
The parent portal is only the beginning to access to Infinite Campus, Brown said. Two weeks after Spring Break, students will fill out forms to get their access codes. This will be for secondary students.
All of the information will be read-only for parents and students, although they will be able to change their profile information. Brown said the teachers will be updating the information regularly to help parents and students see where students need to work harder.
She said it’s a big step toward getting Infinite Campus completely involved in the district and will help increase parents involvement and awareness.
“It’s for parents, guardians and students,” Brown said.
— Derrick Miller is a reporter for The Duncan Banner. He can be reached at 580-255-5354, Ext. 160, or via e-mail at derrick.miller@duncanbanner.com.
