OPI says PowerSchool, Infinite Campus connector pilots are live; statewide rollout to be phased
April 06, 2026 | 2026 Legislature MT, Montana
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Superintendent Hedlund said the Office of Public Instruction’s PowerSchool Direct Connector pilot districts — Great Falls and Kalispell — are now fully live and sending data into the state environment, marking “a shift from planning and development into the real world implementation.”
The update came at a meeting of the Education and Workforce Data Governing Board, where Hedlund told board members the pilot work represents a move from development into operational data flows and that the state is also making “meaningful progress” integrating data from Infinite Campus. Hedlund said Infinite Campus pilot schools Columbia Falls and Seeley Lake have moved from the test environment into file-transfer testing and that joint meetings with vendors resolved earlier extract challenges.
Why it matters: the pilots are the first operational links intended to let the state aggregate K–12 records for policymakers, schools and families. Hedlund said the work promises greater transparency and new tools for school leaders once connections are established, but also warned that each school connection requires time and technical staff.
Board members pressed Hedlund on OPI’s internal capacity and the difficulty of supporting smaller districts. Hedlund said OPI has added project leads and staff and that PowerSchool agreed to provide onsite help for launches; she noted smaller districts may require OPI or contracted staff to travel and assist local personnel who lack the technical skills to install connectors. “We’re in good shape with staffing,” Hedlund said, while conceding that bandwidth and local technical capacity remain constraints and that implementation will be phased over time.
No formal votes were taken on the project at the meeting. The board did not receive a final rollout schedule; Hedlund said more details are in the briefing packet and that the team expects future implementations to become more streamlined as the state learns from the pilots.
The update came at a meeting of the Education and Workforce Data Governing Board, where Hedlund told board members the pilot work represents a move from development into operational data flows and that the state is also making “meaningful progress” integrating data from Infinite Campus. Hedlund said Infinite Campus pilot schools Columbia Falls and Seeley Lake have moved from the test environment into file-transfer testing and that joint meetings with vendors resolved earlier extract challenges.
Why it matters: the pilots are the first operational links intended to let the state aggregate K–12 records for policymakers, schools and families. Hedlund said the work promises greater transparency and new tools for school leaders once connections are established, but also warned that each school connection requires time and technical staff.
Board members pressed Hedlund on OPI’s internal capacity and the difficulty of supporting smaller districts. Hedlund said OPI has added project leads and staff and that PowerSchool agreed to provide onsite help for launches; she noted smaller districts may require OPI or contracted staff to travel and assist local personnel who lack the technical skills to install connectors. “We’re in good shape with staffing,” Hedlund said, while conceding that bandwidth and local technical capacity remain constraints and that implementation will be phased over time.
No formal votes were taken on the project at the meeting. The board did not receive a final rollout schedule; Hedlund said more details are in the briefing packet and that the team expects future implementations to become more streamlined as the state learns from the pilots.
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