Hundreds of Ernest Manning High School students left without classes, schedules due to tech glitch

Hundreds of students at Ernest Manning High School have spent the past two days standing in line after tech glitches prevented them from getting their schedules confirmed, according to one concerned parent.

Barbara Wonko, who has two students in the school in grades 10 and 12, said her Grade 12 student was given three spares and only one of the courses she originally registered for in the spring.

Wonko was told that a glitch in the school’s new scheduling system, called PowerSchool, and a breakdown in the computer system had changed the original schedules of many students, preventing kids from attending classes for as many as two days.

“I was in the school this morning and the lineup of kids to see counsellors just snaked through the hallways.

“There were hundreds of kids waiting. I feel really bad for them.”

Wonko said she was only able to get her daughter in to see a counsellor after raising her concerns with administrators.

“It is Day 2 of regular classes at EMHS yet there are hundreds of students without a proper timetable waiting in lines still left over from yesterday, as the new and improved PowerSchool system proves to be a very slow mess,” she said. “I would have hoped that the admin would have been there late last night — or the night before — or, better yet, before students came back, ensuring that the students had the classes they need to graduate.”

CBE officials said Ernest Manningis not experiencing longer than usual waits for student schedules. “Unique to Ernest Manning High School, they run a continuous learning summer school program, and as a result had a shorter window to establish student timetables than other CBE high schools in PowerSchool,” said CBE spokeswoman Joanne Anderson. “School staff have been working hard to provide timetables as students started on Tuesday and Wednesday.

In addition, the school had approximately 70 walk-in registrations this week that needed new schedules,” Anderson added. “Over the summer, the Calgary Board of Education did implement PowerSchool, a new student information system. As with any system-wide technology change, there is a period of adjustment while users, teachers, parents and students learn the new system.”

But Wonko worries that time lost in the Grade 12 curriculum is precious, adding that students whose parents are unable to advocate for them may have to wait even longer to get schedules. “I have schedules for my kids because I went in hot about having three spares and it was resolved. The girl in line with three Chem 30 classes is still waiting at the same place she was yesterday. Disappointing and stressful.”