MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A parent claimed a school computer issue caused her and her daughter to wait in a long line on the first day of school. Shelby County Schools disagreed with the allegation.
SCS confirmed as of mid-afternoon Monday, more than 80 percent of the district’s projected enrollment was registered for school.
Superintendent Dorsey Hopson told WREG early Monday afternoon that across the district, the first day was generally running smoothly.
He mentioned that the morning’s storm slightly slowed down some transportation.
“One of the things I was most excited about is that teaching and learning is occurring on day one,” Hopson said.
However, a Highland Oaks Elementary School parent, who asked WREG not to identify her, said her daughter was not allowed to jump right in.
“She was very confused, asking me what was going on and is she going to be able to go to school,” the parent said.
She said she registered her second grader on the new online registration system in July.
She met her daughter’s teacher at a registration event last week.
When she showed up for the first day Monday, she said the school had no record of her and sent them to the gym.
She captured video, which she said showed other parents waiting in a line wrapped around the gym.
She said she asked the principal what the problem was.
“She was saying, ‘Well, obviously, something’s wrong with your registration. Go stand in line.’ So, we stood in line an hour and 45 minutes for them to tell us that it was a computer glitch,” the parent said.
She said she ultimately had to take the day off work.
Her daughter was eventually sent to class.
She worries other kids went through the same trouble.
“Confused and wondering what Mommy and Daddy did wrong, when it’s the school’s fault,” she said.
Hopson visited schools around the district Monday. When WREG asked him about this concern, he seemingly chalked it up to growing pains.
“I think anytime you’re registering 110,000 kids and doing a new process, you’re going to have some hiccups as I call them. I think, at the end of the day, sometimes parents don’t save the information or submit the information,” Hopson said.
The concerned parent said that if the district experiences ongoing hiccups with the online registration process, she would prefer to register in-person, like in the past.
SCS looked into the problem and told WREG, “This was a situation where parents had not finalized their registration.” SCS said parents were told before Monday that they needed to make sure they completed the process.
SCS said there was never a glitch.
