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Shawnee Mission to contract with ParentSquare for communications platform, citing ADA accessibility features
Summary
The board approved a three-year contract recommendation with ParentSquare to replace or supplement mass notification tools; administration said the platform's translation and accessibility features will help meet upcoming ADA Title II requirements and the district will initially focus on one-way mass notifications.
The Shawnee Mission School Board approved administration's recommendation to contract with ParentSquare for a three-year mass-communication platform to handle district-wide notifications and help meet accessibility requirements.
District leaders said ParentSquare provides built-in translation and accessibility features that align with impending ADA Title II compliance deadlines and that onboarding would begin in May with implementation planned for July-August if approved. The recommended three-year subscription (July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2029) was presented with an estimated cost of $354,120; final pricing depends on student enrollment and optional platform modules.
Board members questioned how the new two-way capability would interact with recent cell-phone legislation that requires certain communications monitoring. Administration said the platform meets monitoring requirements and that the initial rollout will emphasize one-way mass notifications (snow days, calendar changes and similar messages). Staff said the district will continue to assess whether and how to enable two-way messaging consistent with legal and policy obligations.
During discussion the board confirmed ParentSquare can integrate with other systems the district may adopt (for example, a replacement to the current student information system) and said the platform could be phased to include later student-facing features. The board approved the recommended authorization and funding source (capital fund) by voice vote.
What's next: administration said it will begin onboarding with ParentSquare vendors and coordinate further policy and technical work at upcoming policy review sessions.
