Legal name vs preferred name

[AQ0407AQ]

Does PowerSchool provide options were a child can be enrolled in the district with their legal full name, (due to a crime and the child being a victim) yet the child prefers to be called by the mothers last name, to preserve their identity and privacy?
The School District claims PowerSchool can only have legal name changes entered in, no preference of last name acknowledging the child was a victim of crime. The School District is blaming PowerSchool for not providing an option for accommodation; however I learned on the online forums, The District (possibly) blocked the online access for name preference input. Is their legal documentation that PowerSchool does have options for children to have name preference (first & last name), separate from legal name if a parent allows the change.
Help!

[TariB]

You may enter a preferred name, but you must also include the legal name. 

Below is what it looks like when I enter new students.

You create no problems with state reports if you put the preferred name at the top and the legal one at the bottom.

[reynoldsn]

@TariB 

How are you getting to the screen that has the options to enter the legal name?  I don't see it on our demographics page.  We're on PS version 21.4.5.

thanks,

[TariB]

I just spoke with our PS tech. He said we are currently on version 22.5.1, which is not that far ahead of your version. He felt you should have that option and suggested contacting whoever handles your district PS setup or contact PS support.

I can enter that info on the Enroll New Student page and the Demographics page.

[reynoldsn]

Thanks for the information!  We will look again!  I had not seen that in the new release information and/or video that Jason Springel posts online. 

Have a great day!

[GHB1480]

Can you provide the Jason Springel link for viewing? Thank you so much!

[reynoldsn]

Sure here's the link and a screenshot.  https://help.powerschool.com/t5/Insider-Videos/Insider-Index/ta-p/58564 

[GHB1480]

Thank you. Im a parent and it won’t allow me access in viewing video. Is there another way I can view the video?

[reynoldsn]

It's my understanding that the support website where the videos are stored have varing levels of rights.  You would have to reach out to your district or support people to either update your rights to allow acccess to the video.

It does not allow me the option to download the video.

[JeffG9]

The PowerSchool Insider video would not be of much use (or, frankly, interest if you have seen one 😄 ) to a parent as it deals with the Admin and/or Teacher functionality of PowerSchool, neither of which a parent would have access to.

[reynoldsn]

@JeffG9 

You'd be surprised about parents.  We are in the indepentent school system and our parents have more credentials and degrees than you'd believe.  

[JeffG9]

@reynoldsn As a former teacher who has worked in both a very affluent and a not-so-affluent district, I am not surprised by any parents degrees or lack thereof.

But the only credentials that will get you into the Admin or Teacher-side of an SIS are login credentials.😊

[jmedordi]

In our state, there are definitely problems with using the legal field, unfortunately.  Our state is pulling from the top field, not legal.  

But Powerschool does have the functionality now.  Just need the states to catch up.

[reynoldsn]

@jmedordi 

So sorry to hear the about the issue and time reverting the data.  Powerschool needs to step up and get with today's world.  It seems PowerSchool wants to invest $$$ to build systems to support the academics (powerteacher and learning systems) for the student but not the personal growth and development (the preferred name of which they identify with) of that same student.

PowerSchool seems to be the only SIS I am aware of that doesn't provide the effective use of the student names (legal and preferred).

[nicolebond]

In my state, changing the name can cause errors in state reports, graduation, and testing so make sure you check with PS to see how the data rolls over and is reported to your state. 

[sploeg]

If PowerSchool could cross reference student legal names and preferred names it would be awesome.  With another student system we used - we could type in a legal name or preferred name and the student would come up.  This would be so helpful in the SIS.

[KritiS]

Hi @sploeg 

We recommend adding your request as an Enhancement Request on PowerSchool Ideas Portal so that the product team can take a look at this. This article should walk you through how to raise an Enhancement Request.