Photo by Howard Owens
Although Bob Trombley, a parent of two children in the Batavia City School District, has made requests to be able to communicate with teachers in ways other than the popular and standard ParentSquare app, he’s not certain his appeals are going anywhere.
Trombley addressed the school board during Monday’s meeting, and Superintendent Jason Smith responded that teachers can communicate with him via telephone and not just through the app as he said he's been told.
"My hope is that this will be taken very seriously by Jason and the board, and that action on this will be done in a quick manner. I’ve had discussions with Jason previously about the app; I have not been satisfied with the outcome of those conversations. I think overall Jason is an approachable person, who generally does take action when he feels it’s required, I’m just not sure what they will decide with this,” Trombley said Tuesday to The Batavian. “I currently have two students in the district, and all throughout last year I was unable to get any communications from the app. I have called the schools individually and asked to speak with teachers and have absolutely been denied that ability and told all communication is through the app. I have requested paper copies of forms and so on, and have also been denied those from time to time with the statement ‘it’s on the app, you have to do it on the app.’”
The Batavian also reached out to Smith with followup questions about the matter.
You said that teachers should be responding to parents wanting to talk to them, so why was (Trombley) complaining, and why do you think the breakdown is that he and apparently others may believe it's only to be done via the parent app?
“Our admin and teachers are always available to speak to our families and community members individually — ParentSquare has not changed that. ParentSquare does provide a single communication tool for our families, schools, and district, but that is not the only means,” Smith said. “All staff members still utilize email, while ParentSquare is another option for direct communication via its messaging tool based on a parent’s preference. ParentSquare is used to post messages, urgent alerts, and general updates, and has been well-received by our families and staff.
“No system is perfect and we are continually looking for ways to refine our use of this tool. We just completed our first year as a district using ParentSquare, and while I'm thrilled with the progress, of course there are always ways we can improve, and we intend to do so,” Smith said. “Our newly hired Director of Educational Technology Wendy Villone has prior experience with ParentSquare, and we look forward to her expertise as well. I want to point out a few other positive elements about ParentSquare that we’ve experienced during our first year of use.”
Those elements include:
Unified Communication Platform: ParentSquare has streamlined our communication process by consolidating various channels into one platform. This integration has reduced confusion and improved efficiency for both staff and families.
Increased Reach: We're able to connect with 97% of our parents and guardians district-wide through ParentSquare. This level of reach was previously unattainable with traditional communication methods. For the remaining 3%, we've identified alternative ways to ensure they receive important information.
Enhanced Equity: The platform's automatic translation feature, supporting more than 100 languages, has significantly improved our ability to communicate with non-English speaking families. This feature ensures that all parents, regardless of their primary language, can access and understand important school information.
Real-Time Updates: The platform's immediate notification system ensures that parents receive timely information about school events, sports practices, emergencies, and other critical matters.
Customization: Parents appreciate the flexibility to customize how they receive notifications, allowing them to stay informed in a way that suits their preferences and schedules.
Enhanced Engagement Tools: Features like appointment scheduling, event sign-ups, and surveys have increased parent participation and engagement.
Improved Staff Experience: This past school year, we did a survey of our staff to find out how their experience with ParentSquare was going. We received a lot of helpful ( anonymous) feedback, but here are some quotes that stood out to me: "Parents who do not answer the phone for calls will message through ParentSquare all the time. I am able to send quick responses and communicate with parents so much easier than trying to contact them by phone.
“I appreciated Mr. Trombley’s public feedback and intend to continue our discussion on this topic,” Smith said. “I appreciate these comments as we seek to enhance and improve how we interact with families across BCSD.”
Trombley emphasized that he knows “without a shadow of a doubt” that he’s not the only one who has struggled to successfully use ParentSquare, and there are even parents who are “way more comfortable and well versed in technology who are having the same difficulties as I am,” he said.
He reiterated his Monday talking points (a video recorded by Trombley) about the district trampling his and others’ First Amendment rights of free speech and believes this setup is "the most restrictive form of communication with our school, not the least restrictive.”
“I do not intend to drop this at all. I am hoping for a hasty response from the district, and a hasty change to this policy,” he said. “I don’t think getting rid of the forced nature of this app is unreasonable. I do plan on pursuing this issue in a peaceful legal way to see it through. Ligation is not out of the question, however, I would hope we don’t get to that point.”
The Batavian asked Smith if this was the first complaint of this type made in the district.
Given Trombley’s complaints, and apparent experience with his child's teachers, do you plan to respond with your teaching faculty with any communication about using the app? Can or will you clarify how the app is to be used and how faculty can also communicate with parents that wish to communicate another way, especially for those that want to opt out of the app and who may have a learning disability, as he suggested?
“This is the first formal complaint we have received, however, we appreciate the feedback. We have surveyed our staff on their use of ParentSquare and will launch a similar survey to our families.,” Smith said. “With a new school year approaching, we always look to review, reassess, and refresh our communication expectations and guidelines across the district and school levels, and intend to do so again this year.
“ParentSquare is fully compliant with all educational laws and regulations, and is widely used throughout our region and the state. You can find ParentSquare’s Privacy Policy here. To address Mr. Trombley’s comment about how ParentSquare uses our District’s data, please see the following.”
Sharing and Disclosure of Information
ParentSquare uses the data received from the School for the sole purpose of delivering products and services to the School. We do not rent, trade, or sell or otherwise distribute your information to any third parties and will only disclose information when allowed by FERPA and required a) by applicable laws or government orders or b) to maintain and operate our service or c) when authorized by the School.
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ParentSquare does not use student or user records or data collected for targeted advertising, and no student profile is built by ParentSquare for reasons other than furthering School purposes.
