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Citrus County schools approve move to ParentSquare to consolidate communications
Summary
The school board voted to amend its master student data privacy agreement and renew ParentSquare for 2025–26, endorsing a district migration from multiple messaging and website vendors to a single communications platform.
The Citrus County School Board approved a second amendment to its master student data privacy agreement and renewed ParentSquare for the 2025–26 school year, authorizing a planned migration of district websites and communication tools to ParentSquare.
District staff sought the change to reduce the number of separate apps and services parents and staff must use, citing multiple recent acquisitions of existing vendors. "For about seven years now, we have utilized the same company for our website," said Miss Sandrovsky, district staff (communications). She and colleagues said PowerSchool has acquired the district website vendor and the call-out service, Remind has been absorbed into ParentSquare, and the district currently uses several other tools including ClassDojo and Meltwater.
Why it matters: school leaders said consolidating communication, roster sync, translation, and ADA compliance checks into one platform should raise engagement and reduce confusion for families who now juggle multiple apps. "That is the goal," Ms. Blair, district staff (communications committee), said of providing a single place for parents to find announcements, forms and teacher messages.
Board discussion focused on data privacy, cost, integration with the student information system (SIS), classroom features, and migration timelines. Staff said ParentSquare will sync with Skyward and other SIS options the district is evaluating, will respect parental access flags, and offers messaging that can be delivered by text or inside an app. "It syncs with our student information system," Sandrovsky said. She also said ParentSquare includes tools to check content for ADA contrast, offer translations based on the home language in Skyward, and provide newsletter and event scheduling features.
Cost and budget context: staff presented a one-time migration and annual-cost estimate of $88,000 for ParentSquare; they said the vendor was waiving the migration/implementation fee for the district in this cycle. Presenters also showed current annual costs the district is paying for separate services: roughly $49,698 for the PowerSchool website and call-out system and about $40,000 for Remind/Let's Talk/Meltwater combined, figures provided by staff as part of the comparison.
Implementation details: staff described a soft launch to begin after board approval for committee members, district staff and transportation to test rostering and messaging. The goal is to have websites and communications live by the start of the school year, with a more conservative target of September if needed. Training, a project manager and a customer success manager are included in the rollout plan.
Board action: School Board member John Kennedy moved to approve the amendment and renewal; School Board member Paul Frank seconded. The board voted in favor.
The approval directs staff to proceed with migration planning and vendor coordination; staff warned migrations may require additional time and that the district will provide training for parents, teachers and administrators.
