Student/Parent Access Network (SPAN)
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Check with your school about the state of parental SPAN access before filling out and turning in the access forms. Some schools are not offering parents SPAN accounts until Fall 2005. Downloads
Parents/guardians will be given one account per student. Parents must submit a separate form for each student enrolled in a WCPSS high school. All downloads require the free Acrobat Reader software, version 4.0 or higher for viewing or printing. |
In March 2005, the Wake County Public School System began piloting a new computer system, the Student/Parent Access Network (SPAN). The SPAN system is designed to give students and parents at WCPSS high schools up-to-the-minute access to their electronic records, including schedules, attendance, and grades. When the system is fully developed, parents and students will be able to view academic progress reports online, and students will be able to complete course requests online.
Not all high schools are offering parents access to the SPAN immediately. The SPAN is part of a larger system (SAM - School Assist Module). Schools will be implementing parent access to SPAN over the next few months, with most schools being online by Fall 2005. Please check with your school about the status of parental access to the SPAN.
The SPAN is being implemented over the course of the Spring 2005 semester, with full functionality available for the 2005-2006 school year. Beginning in March 2005, parents and students using SPAN will be able to view schedules, report cards and historical grades, unofficial GPA/class rank, and attendance records online. In March 2005, students at all high schools will use SPAN to select courses online. In July, students at all high schools will be able to view their 2005-2006 schedule and submit schedule change requests online, in accordance with their school's registration timeline and procedures. High school adminstrators will then notify students whether or not the change is possible.
In the fall, parents and students will be able to view additional information such as discipline records, fines and fees, locker and parking information, textbook and media center activity, and progress towards graduation, as well as academic progress reports for current classes. Students will also have the ability to make appointments with their school counselor online.
Access to the different functions within SPAN will vary between schools. Schools will select the functions of SPAN that work best for them and provide specific information regarding what data will be available SPAN users.
In order to maintain full compliance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, all SPAN users are required to access SPAN using their own account.
Security
WCPSS takes all measures to keep student data secure. Student data is not accessible by anyone who does not have the authority to do so as defined by the U.S. Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).
Students will have access to their own data. Any parent or legal guardian may also request access once the school begins to use the parent access component (see the Downloads sidebar for forms). If there is a situation where a parent or legal guardian should not receive access to student data, please notify the school immediately. Parents/guardians will have the ability to see who else has access to their student's data.
Parent and student accounts are automatically disabled when a student withdraws from school. Disabled accounts are held for 90 days and subsequently deleted. Accounts not accessed at least once every 60 days will be disabled.
E-mail addresses provided to WCPSS as part of the SPAN registration process will not be shared with anyone outside the school system.
Registering for SPAN Accounts
Student accounts will be distributed to each student at school. Parents may register by completing the SPAN application (see Downloads sidebar) and submitting it to the school office. Once the account has been created, you will receive an email with instructions on how to activate your account.
Troubleshooting
Your school has the ability to diagnose and repair most login problems. Each school will have a designated contact person for SPAN issues. Parents and students who have specified email addresses, and subsequently lose their password, can have a one-time use password emailed to them by verifying their identity.