Technical glitch fixed after stalling online classes across NC on first day of school
The first day of school for many North Carolina students started with technical problems Monday barring students’ access to online classes, educators reported statewide.
NCEdCloud, the system used for accessing PowerSchool and Canvas, hit technical glitches early Monday and prevented students from logging in, school systems from Durham to Charlotte reported.
By late Monday morning, the state Department of Public Instruction reported that the problems had been resolved.
“The NC Department of Public Instruction received reports this morning that teachers and students were having problems logging-in to NCEdCloud,” DPI said in a statement. “The vendor-provider of the NCEdCloud Service confirmed that the product experienced a degradation in service this morning.
“The vendor will provide an explanation of the root cause once it has identified the source. In the meantime, the service is now working.”
DPI said NCEdCloud is the portal to other Home Base resources, including PowerSchool, Canvas, NCEES, ImagineMath, Learning.com, and Schoolnet. But DPI said the issue was not with those products.
Wake County, which is the state’s largest district, said the NCEdCloud issues didn’t impact instruction Monday.
“The good news for us is it wasn’t a widespread problem,” Marlo Gaddis, Wake County’s chief technology officer, said at a news conference Monday.
But the early morning issues left families and teachers frustrated across the state.
“NCEdCloud already crashing ... this is gonna be an awesome day!” Jarrod Britt, teacher at Cape Fear High School in Fayetteville, said in a tweet.
More than 70% of the state’s 1.5 million public school students are starting classes online rather than in person.
Republicans cite computer glitch
Republican elected officials cited the statewide glitches to criticize Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper and school districts for not having more schools open for in-person classes. They did not criticize DPI, which is led by Republican State Superintendent Mark Johnson.
“Hearing stories like this throughout North Carolina as the school year starts for a majority of students today,” Lt. Gov. Dan Forest tweeted Monday. “Just one more reason why families should be given the choice to have their children in the classroom.”
Forest is running against Cooper for governor this fall.
Republican Senate leader Phil Berger cited the glitches in arguing the State Board of Education shouldn’t have turned down Friday a proposal to allow the state’s two virtual charter schools to add up to 3,800 more students this year. All six of Cooper’s appointees voted against the expansion.
“Meanwhile, the virtual charter schools, which @NC_Governor-controlled Board of Education prohibited from expanding, are fully up and running,” Berger tweeted Monday. “The consequences of the State Board choice to deny additional educational opportunities are already on full display.”
Cooper’s campaign responded Monday by noting how Forest, a member of the state board, has missed several meetings.
“Dan Forest has failed to attend approximately 40% of State Board of Education meetings during the pandemic,” Liz Doherty, a spokeswoman for Cooper’s campaign, said in an email Monday. “He continues to fail North Carolina students, teachers, and schools.”
This story was originally published August 17, 2020 at 10:19 AM with the headline "Technical glitch fixed after stalling online classes across NC on first day of school."