Cape district works through registration delays

Cape Henlopen School District is working hard to get through a backlog of student registration applications, with delays caused largely by a statewide transition to a new online student information system.

“This system change is a huge shift for Delaware schools,” said Alison May, a spokesperson for the Delaware Department of Education, which initiated the change.

For nearly 25 years, Delaware schools used a student information system, or SIS, called eSchool to manage and organize student data, including contact information, academic records, attendance and enrollment details. It served as a central hub for students, parents, teachers and administrators, providing tools for tasks like online registration, scheduling and grade tracking.

This summer, Cape and other districts and charters across the state transitioned to a new system, Infinite Campus, to which the DOE awarded a 10-year contract.

The timeline of the transition, however, led to issues for Cape, preventing some students from starting on time when the school year started.

According to Assistant Superintendent LouAnn Hudson, at the end of each year, typically by July 1, the district closes out the previous year’s record in its system before rolling over to the next. The district couldn’t transition to Infinite Campus until the previous year’s record was closed out in eSchool.

Typically, closing out the previous year wouldn’t affect student registration, and the registration portal normally opens in November of the previous year and continuously rolls over in the system until the start of the next year. Thus, many families wait until the start of summertime to register their kids for the coming year.

However, this summer, because the district was switching student information systems, there was a period of time in June and July – after the eSchool portal closed and before the Infinite Campus portal opened – when parents had no way to register their kids.

The Infinite Campus portal didn’t open until Aug. 1, significantly condensing the summer registration period and triggering a surge of registration applications to come in all at once.

With only about a month before the first day of school, the district staff was overwhelmed with applications and had minimal time to review them and resolve any issues.

“The [registration process] is how it’s always been,” Hudson said. “It’s really nothing new, it’s just a matter of it being delayed, and the onslaught of applications all at once.”

District staff is working through the applications as quickly as it can, with more coming in every day. More than 150 applications have come in since Labor Day weekend alone.

Hudson asked everyone to be patient as they work through this transition period.

At this point, of the students who were registered prior to the first day of school, the delays are primarily affecting those who were not registered properly.

Every year, Hudson said, a number of parents submit registration applications without the necessary supporting documents, like their child’s birth certificate or proof of residence. The district cannot register a child without those documents. A full list of the required materials can be found on the district website.

Hudson urged families who are experiencing issues to check their e-mail inboxes, as the district has sent out messages to those whose applications are incomplete detailing what they still need from them.

She also mentioned that with the new system, many folks have been unable to fill out the registration application on their smartphones. Thus, the district has placed laptops in the main office of every school, so those who don’t have computer access at home are able to fill out the application that way.

For parents or guardians who still need to submit documents but don’t have access to a computer or prefer to drop them off in person, Hudson said they may put the documents in an envelope with the student’s name clearly marked and bring it either to the district office at 1270 Kings Hwy in Lewes, or to the office of any school in the district.

“We will match the documents to the student, as long as they’re clearly marked,” she said.

If the documents are originals, school or district office staff are able to make copies.

“Any of the secretaries in the buildings, they can’t complete the registration, but they live to help these families and are always willing to help them,” Hudson said. “We will do whatever we can.”

“We appreciate this is a heavy lift in a short time period during which school leaders also were preparing for the new academic year,” May added on behalf of the DOE. “State leaders will continue to work diligently and collaboratively with our vendor and our district and charter partners to work through any challenges. We are excited that this move will give Delaware a system that will better serve our schools and families, and we appreciate educators’ and families’ patience and grace through this process.”