School district awarded 300K to help close the digital divide

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A software error caused public school students around North Carolina to receive incorrect end-of-term grades this school year, state education officials said.

The Department of Public Instruction said it has been advising districts about the problem with PowerSchool software since December, after many schools sent home first-quarter report cards. The error could have affected as many as 109 school districts, and 59 charter schools in the state, but it’s not clear exactly how many students were impacted.

The software incorrectly rounded class grades up or down after teachers entered individual assignments into the PowerSchool software, department spokesman Drew Elliot said. A department news release said the error comes from a change this school year in the software’s grade calculation methods.

Moore County Schools announced Wednesday our school district has been affected.

“The district is currently working to assess the scope of the impact to student grades,” said Moore County Schools. “Please note that the calculation error does not impact every student. Those students who are impacted by the calculation error will receive the higher grade calculation. Over the next several days, teachers and Central Services staff will be working to recalibrate the grades of students who are impacted by the calculation error. As a result, report cards for all students will not be ready to be distributed tomorrow as scheduled. Teachers and staff are working to have this matter resolved as soon as possible. The report card distribution date is now planned for early February, if not before.”

Josh Morgan, a spokesman for PowerSchool, said the company was reviewing the situation and couldn’t immediately say if the problem is affecting schools in other states. The company said on its website that it provides classroom technology, including web-based systems for grading, to 45 million students in 70 countries.

On Moore County Schools’ Facebook page, the district thanked families for their patience.

This article was written with the help of The Associated Press.

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