Mary Bridges, the district director leading the Xello rollout, told the Orange County School Board on Oct. 14 that Xello is now available to all OCPS students and families and is being used for step‑by‑step career and college planning.

Bridges said Xello "is a college and career platform that is available for students in kindergarten through grade 12" and described features she said help students discover interests, build portfolios and plan course paths. Robert Palmer, the district senior administrator working with Bridges, said the platform links with Common App for many colleges and lets counselors monitor student progress.

The rollout matters because, Bridges said, state statutes require college and career guidance and Xello is designed to meet those requirements while saving counselor time by providing school‑ and district‑level reports. "Xello is provided by the Florida Department of Education to all school districts at no cost," she said.

District staff gave usage statistics: 77% of students in grades 3–5 had logged into Xello; 68% had completed the career interest assessment and 53% the personality quiz; 61% of K–12 students logged in at least once during September. Bridges told the board that on a recent "resiliency day," "over 84,000 students were logged into Xello at the same time, breaking a record for the company." The district said these metrics indicate strong early uptake.

Board members asked detailed questions about how Xello links students to careers and local opportunities. Palmer said the system ranks career matches as "excellent, good and fair" based on students' assessments and that each career profile includes an overview, typical pathways (four‑year, two‑year or workforce), regional growth data and short interviews with people in the field.

Members pressed staff on technical and operational points. Vice Chair Byrd asked whether Xello explains what specific jobs involve; Palmer said profiles include day‑to‑day descriptions and interviews. Member Gallo asked whether Xello can send transcripts automatically; staff said counselors still must send transcripts through Xello/Common App and that the district is exploring additional services such as Parchment for institutions that do not accept Common App. Member Bennett and others asked about volunteer‑hour logging and local business integration; staff said portfolios and resumes can record volunteer hours and the district is exploring deeper local business and internship links with Xello.

Several members raised data and family‑access concerns. Member Vanos asked who can see student data; Bridges said school counselors have user‑level access to students at their school, classroom teachers see only rostered students, and Xello and the district comply with FERPA. Parents must create a separate Xello login to view a child’s profile; staff said counselors can continue to use ParentSquare and other channels for notifications.

The board did not take formal action on Xello at the meeting. Superintendent Dr. Vasquez and the student services team said they will continue training counselors, expand the course‑planner feature next year, and return with updates and further integration options for local businesses and transcript services.

District staff encouraged board members and families to review Xello resources at school sites and to raise further questions as the course planner and other features are phased in.