Durham Public Schools Uses Parchment To Track Students, Sensitive Papers, and Missing Devices

Serving over 33,000 students across 53 campuses in North Carolina, Durham Public Schools (DPS) faced significant challenges managing student records, device tracking, and accountability. To address these issues, the district partnered with Parchment to implement the K-12 Document Management and K-12 Transfer solutions.

We spoke with three district employees — Records Center Manager Donna Hamm, and record technicians Zachary Wells and Amy Bass — to explore how these tools transformed the district’s operations.

Obstacles to Efficient Student Tracking and Data Management

Managing sensitive student information and coordinating records across 53 campuses was a complex and resource-intensive process for Durham Public Schools. Traditional methods, including manual notebooks and fax machines, were prone to delays, errors, and security risks. These inefficiencies hindered the district’s ability to track student movement and ensure accurate dropout reporting.

Hamm underscores this challenge, sharing, “I’ve talked to so many schools that just laugh about their fax machines because they’re down all the time.” This, she points out, raises the question: “How are you going to send records when it’s down?” She also highlights, “If you’re going to send them in the mail, you’re completely reliant on the U.S. Postal Service to deliver student records.”

These challenges only grew during the pandemic, as DPS struggled to track distributed devices and maintain accountability for student transitions. Without a centralized digital solution, the district’s operations were vulnerable to lapses in communication and data accuracy.

How Parchment Transformed Record Management in Durham Public Schools

To address the challenges Durham Public Schools faced, Parchment provided a comprehensive suite of tools tailored to the district’s unique needs.

The K-12 Document Management system enabled DPS to handle sensitive student records securely and efficiently. And by moving to a paperless system, the district reduced its reliance on outdated methods like faxing and mailing documents. This offered a streamlined way to store, access, and share records.

At the same time, the K-12 Transfer platform revolutionized student enrollment and transfer processes. Hamm explains, “In 2012, we began taking online requests [through Parchment]. So, K-12 Transfer was part of a natural progression for us when we needed a better process for tracking student movement.”

This tool allowed DPS to track student movements in real time, ensuring accountability for every transition. That way, the district could respond faster to transfer requests and reduce the potential for data inaccuracies or delays.

Transforming DPS Operations in Record Time

Durham Public Schools adopted Parchment’s solutions with remarkable speed and efficiency, with Hamm noting, “The product was implemented and [she] was trained in just two months.”

By the start of the 2019-2020 school year, the district’s records center was fully operational with Parchment’s K-12 Transfer system. This enabled DPS to immediately benefit from secure, paperless handling of student records — ensuring faster communication and fewer administrative errors. Hamm explains, “By using Parchment, a school can go online and create an account to handle it all. It doesn’t take long for the schools to be verified and make a record request that same day. If we have the requested records on our end, we can upload and send them immediately.”

Parchment worked closely with DPS to ensure a smooth transition, providing training sessions, technical support, and customized setup tailored to the district’s needs. Plus, the user-friendly interface of the Parchment platforms allowed staff members to quickly adapt to the new systems. Hamm points out, “We all know that there are always going to be people who put up a fight and hate something new, and they’re always going to complain. But we are adamant that Parchment is our procedure.”

With these solutions in place, DPS gained the tools to efficiently track student records, streamline enrollment, and manage device retrieval with confidence.

Exploring Key Wins and Transformative Outcomes

Parchment’s solutions transformed operations at Durham Public Schools, delivering impressive results. Enhanced tracking tools streamlined dropout reporting and closed cohort gaps, enabling proactive interventions. Hamm emphasizes, “As we all know, we can’t entirely prevent dropouts. But we can improve upon reporting, tracking, and accountability — and that’s what Parchment provides.” Bass adds, “The proof is in the pudding with our dropouts.”

Collaboration features also made it easy to recover devices left behind by transferring students. Wells explains, “We can message the new school for assistance if a student leaves and carries one of our devices out with them,” which helps strengthen the district’s resources.

Finally, digital record requests replaced outdated methods, making communication faster, more secure, and incredibly efficient—records now move in hours, not days.

There’s always more to learn.