Board committee approves districtwide rollout of ParentSquare communication platform

The Allentown School District committee voted to forward an action to the full board to adopt ParentSquare as the district’s unified family‑communication platform.

Miss Monley introduced the item, saying the platform would align with Goal 3 of the district strategic plan and replace the patchwork of free and paid tools schools currently use. Administration said the plan aims to ensure consistent, secure and professional communication across all school sites and to help schools comply with existing district policies on privacy and acceptable use.

Melissa, a ParentSquare representative on the Zoom meeting, answered board questions about line‑item pricing. She said the different year labels (for example, “Engage Premium 2025” versus “2023”) are an internal naming convention for package and accounting purposes; the vendor provides the same set of features and year‑to‑year enhancements are included.

Board member Miss Green asked how the platform clearly improves on the patchwork of existing tools; administration and the vendor said the district‑level contract will standardize messages and eliminate multiple disparate subscriptions across schools. After brief Q&A, the committee took a motion and second and voted to move the item forward; the motion carried without objection.

The vendor was available to answer additional questions at the regular board meeting. Administration said cost details and implementation timeline will be provided with the item at final board action.