A company-wide outage of a popular learning platform, Clever, prevented many Pittsburgh Public Schools students from completing assignments while they were learning remotely on Monday.
The platform provides access to the applications that students use, but staff and families reported that they were unable to login. The issue was resolved around 2 p.m. according to the company’s website. PPS schools dismissed between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. A district spokesperson did not know how many PPS students and staff were impacted.
Because it was an issue on the company’s end, district officials say that students won’t be held accountable for missed work.
The district had shifted to remote learning only for Monday. Interim superintendent Wayne Walters told families in a letter sent on Nov. 19 that because of staffing shortages — both staff and contracted bus drivers — and a lack of substitute teachers, the district had to shift for one day.
“Making it an asynchronous learning day permits us to count the day ... and eliminates the need to extend the school year or remove vacation days from Spring Break,” Walters said in the letter. “In addition to completing assignments, students will have access to social-emotional learning supports and activities.”
Students are expected to return to in-person learning on Tuesday.
