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Quincy School District outlines rollout of state'wide 'School Links' graduation platform
Summary
District director Allison Gaitley told the school board the district is cleaning up course codes, integrating Skyward and preparing staff/student training so students can access the statewide School Links portfolio when the district launches in August next year.
Allison Gaitley, the district''s director of teaching and learning, told the Quincy School District board that the district is preparing to launch the state'wide School Links platform next August as the required tool for students'' High School & Beyond plans and graduation-pathway documentation. "We have three major requirements for graduation," Gaitley said, listing 25 high school credits, a High School & Beyond plan and a completed graduation pathway.
Gaitley said the district has spent the current school year reconciling course codes in Skyward and configuring data feeds so the platform will display accurate, up-to-date records for families. She described administrator training already underway and planned staff professional development in June and August, followed by student onboarding through advisory at the start of next school year.
Why this matters: School Links is the legislature-backed universal platform that OSPI will use to standardize graduation planning across districts. District staff said inconsistencies in course codes and differing local systems created the primary risk to a clean launch; fixing those systems is required for parents and students to reliably see progress toward graduation.
Gaitley described three primary graduation-pathway options that students can use to meet the requirement: demonstration of college-ready ELA and math (via ACT/SAT, dual credit or the state assessment), a qualifying ASVAB score for the military pathway, or a CTE-based pathway through aligned career-technical coursework. She said counselors are currently tracking credits and pathway completion and that advisory teachers handle the day-to-day support for High School & Beyond planning.
The presentation addressed flexible programs and students with disabilities. Board members pressed staff on how School Links will handle programs that are not course-based, like Big Picture Learning, and how the platform will align with Individualized Education Programs. Gaitley said the state and OSPI have acknowledged those challenges and are working on guidance; locally the district is exploring how to map flexible learning activities and transition programming into the new system.
Students will retain access to their School Links accounts beyond graduation, Gaitley said, allowing them to share portfolios, credentials and other records with future employers or colleges. "Students will continue to have access to their information to be able to share out as they would like," she said.
Staff emphasized that a successful rollout depends on role clarity, training and communication: identifying what counselors, advisory teachers and administrators must do differently, providing separate training on the course-planner tools, and coordinating family outreach. The district is also weighing whether to purchase access for sixth grade (district middle schools start at sixth) because the state-funded platform currently covers seventh grade through high school.
The district plans to complete data cleanup and system configuration through the spring and summer, run staff PD in June and August, and launch student onboarding in the fall. OSPI will run accountability "pulse checks" in October and November to confirm districts are completing required onboarding steps.
The board did not take a vote on the rollout; the update was provided for information and the board asked staff to return with implementation details and opportunities for board feedback.
