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District votes to adopt ParentSquare to centralize school communications
Summary
After a staff presentation and Q&A, the board voted to incorporate ParentSquare as the district's unified communications platform. Administrators said it can replace three existing products, integrate with PowerSchool, provide urgent alerts, help meet ADA website requirements and is estimated to cost about the same as current annual spending.
The Santa Fe Trail board voted to adopt ParentSquare as the district's primary communications platform, after administrators presented the product's features and cost implications.
An administrator described ParentSquare as a single platform that can handle mass notifications, classroom communication, forms and website features. "It's 1 unified solution," the presenter said, citing capabilities including two‑way classroom messaging, API integration with PowerSchool, urgent alerts that cannot be opted out of, and ADA‑compliance tooling for website content. The presenter said the district currently pays roughly $10,964.83 for three separate products and that ParentSquare negotiations put the annual cost under that current total; she also cited a one‑time implementation cost she estimated would be a little over $5,000.
Board members asked about data security, integration with PowerSchool, and how existing teacher tools (Google Classroom, Seesaw, ClassDojo) would be handled. Administrators replied that ParentSquare integrates with PowerSchool and can surface Google Classroom notifications inside the platform, and that teachers would continue to use academic tools while ParentSquare consolidates outward communications. After Q&A a motion was made to incorporate ParentSquare and begin rollout planning; the board approved the motion and directed administrators to return with implementation timelines and training plans.
