Online portal access troubles mark first day of NC public schools

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A statewide online student information system crashed on the first day of school, according to North Carolina officials. About three hours after those technical glitches kept some students and teachers from logging in for the first day of classes, officials said the issue had been fixed.

North Carolina’s public schools returned to class with most students still learning at home to start the year due to continued worries about COVID-19. Nearly all schools in K-12 districts began classes on Monday. The first day was marked initially by problems entering an online portal to access several digital applications for students and teachers.

The online system, called NCEdCloud, was experiencing technical issues on Monday. North Carolina IT teams worked feverishly to resolve the issue, according to education officials. Anybody still having problems should refresh their browsers and try again to reconnect.

School districts across the state said the system was overloaded Monday because so many students were trying to access it.

[SPECIAL SECTION: Return to Learning]

The cloud manages the app Powerschool, which is used to maintain student records and "effectively manage school processes," according to the North Carolina Department of Instruction's website.

Powerschool tracks student attendance, course registration and student transcripts. The cloud also manages Canvas, which is a tool that summarizes assignments and announcements.

Channel 9 heard from dozens of Charlotte-Mecklenburg School parents that said their students were having problems logging on to Canvas Monday morning.

Canvas is the website CMS is telling students to use for all classes.

This district sent out a Connect-ED message, saying they were experiencing problems with NCEdCloud, which is preventing students from accessing Canvas. Around noon, the issue seemed to be resolved for most.

Before the fix, schools were directing students to log onto their school’s website and go to the teacher’s directory. Each teacher has directions to go onto Zoom or Google to begin their classes.

Parents and students were told to also try logging on from a personal device and not their school-issued Chromebook.

Some users on social media were still reporting issues logging on. It is suggested that users who are attempting to log back on to these education apps clear their internet cookies and their cache, or try a new browser altogether.

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CMS STATEMENT:

“CMS is aware of issues with the state program NCEdCloud. This is the program that students and faculty use to access the Canvas remote learning platform. The state is looking into the issues and hoping for a solution soon.”

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For students who had issues and worried they may be counted as absent, CMS Superintendent Earnest Wintson said all students who attempted to log on to remote learning will be counted present.

If they did not log in, they should call their schools or teachers.

He asked that parents make sure their child’s school has their most updated contact information. He said that way they can reach families when they have problems like what happened Monday.

North Carolina schools resume with most students online

North Carolina’s public schools returned to class with most students still learning at home through their computers to start the year due to continued worries about COVID-19.

Nearly all schools in K-12 districts began classes Monday.

Districts and charter schools that teach about two-thirds of the 1.5 million public school students chose full-time remote learning for now.

Gov. Roy Cooper’s plan also gave school boards options to hold in-person instruction with strict social distancing or provide a mix.

During the past school year, school buildings closed in March and never reopened for classes.

RETURN TO LEARNING: Thousands of NC students to start school year unlike any other

Cox Media Group