Opportunities for Support
BRIDGE Open Office Hours: The North Dakota Department of Public Instruction (NDDPI) and project partners are now holding general Office Hours on a weekly basis. Our next session is scheduled for next Wednesday, July 8, 12–1 p.m. CDT.
SSO & User Authentication Support Sessions: As part of the transition to Infinite Campus, districts will be required to use a Single Sign-On (SSO) provider so staff & students can securely access the Infinite Campus student information system (SIS). The recording from the Monday, June 29 support session can be accessed here.
K12 Usernames and Staff ID Support Session: This working session will focus on staff usernames and staff IDs that support authentication in Infinite Campus. We will review how usernames and staff IDs are used with both K12 and custom directory authentication, provide guidance on validation and standardization, and answer district-specific questions related to implementation and ongoing use. Join us next Tuesday, July 7, 3:15–4:15 p.m. CDT.
K12 Solutions Modules Update: 504 Plan Management, Substitute Teacher Management, & Student Search
NDDPI is actively working to procure three add-on products developed by Infinite Campus’ channel partner, K12 Solutions Group. The intent is to purchase these modules (504 plan, substitute teacher, student search) at the state-level to prevent districts from having to purchase them individually and incur the cost themselves.
Through extensive conversations with districts and survey feedback, these three modules were identified as the highest value, and most likely to be utilized statewide.
More details will be provided when the procurement process is complete. These details will also include instructions on what to do if your district has already begun, or completed, the purchase of these specific products directly with the K12 Solutions Group.
Emergency Funding Update
Last week, the North Dakota Budget Section approved NDDPI's Emergency Commission Request to provide financial resources to districts to offset transition costs related to the BRIDGE project.
A formula of $1,000 per district plus $25 per student using 2025–2026 average daily membership will be used to allocate the funding. These funds can be used to offset costs associated with data standardization, initial SIS training, and additional workload demands stemming from the compressed implementation timeline.
An application to request funds is expected to be available via WebGrants by mid-July. More details on how to request these funds will be provided to district superintendents as soon as possible.
Accessing Historical PowerSchool Data (Optional for Districts)
As part of the transition away from the PowerSchool system, NDDPI is making historical PowerSchool data available to districts. This optional access is intended for districts that determine they still need to reference information previously stored in PowerSchool.
Districts that choose to access their historical data will do so through a database only connection. This connection allows districts to run Structured Query Language (SQL) queries against a read only copy of their PowerSchool data; it does not provide access to the PowerSchool application itself. Using this connection requires the ability to write and run SQL queries against a relational database. Districts already familiar with querying their production PowerSchool data will find the process similar, though the connection details will differ.
NDDPI is working closely with North Dakota Information Technology (NDIT) to put this secure access in place and ensure the environment is compliant with required technical and data governance standards.
If your district has staff who need this type of access, please submit their information using the form below:
Access information will be shared with districts as soon as their individual database connection is ready. We expect to provide access to all districts that have already requested it soon, with initial connection details shared no later than July 10.
If your district does not anticipate needing access to its historical data, no action is required. Districts may also request access at a later time if they later determine that this functionality is needed.
Please note: At this time, NDDPI will not be providing support for developing SQL queries or assisting districts with local reporting or data extraction work. Districts without in‑house SQL expertise will need to contract for those services if needed.
If you have questions about whether your district needs this type of access, or about the process, please feel free to reach out.
PowerSchool Behavior Data Migration
It has been identified that some districts currently store Personally Identifiable Information (PII) in behavior-related “Event Name” fields. This creates a risk, as the “Event Name” is automatically included in Behavior Incident Letters in Infinite Campus, which could unintentionally expose sensitive information.
To address this, legacy behavior “Event Name” values will be migrated to a comments field in Infinite Campus for reference. All legacy behavior events being migrated will be re-labeled to “Historical Event” as the Event Name.
This is a good reminder to not include PII in the behavior-related “Event Name” field moving forward.
Video Fatigue?
If you're experiencing "video fatigue," you're not alone. Rather than trying to consume every training video at once, focus on the trainings most relevant to your role, learn in small chunks, and spend time practicing tasks in your Infinite Campus environment. Consider creating local learning groups, using quick-reference guides, and identifying a few district experts who can support others. Remember: the goal is not to learn everything immediately, it's to learn the right things at the right time and build confidence as you go.
Q & A
Q: We do not use standards-based grading in our school, but I am working in Infinite Campus to import the standards for our Special Ed. Unit. I selected all the standards but then get an error that I must select a default rubric - there are no options to select.
A: Rubrics and standards are two different, but related tools. Rubrics are the scoring system that standards use (4/3/2/1, ESNU, etc.). Rubrics are district specific and there is no state-wide repository for rubrics. Standards are the items being addressed (either in grading, using a rubric or in the IEP, which does not utilize rubric scores). Either way, for standards to be entered into the Standards Bank (either manually or through the CASE import tooling), the district needs to align a rubric to those standards.
Unless a district is using standards for grading purposes, the scores in the rubric are not relevant. It’s just a database requirement. Here is Infinite Campus' help guide for creating scoring rubrics in Infinite Campus: Create Scoring Rubrics | Infinite Campus.
For additional assistance, please work with directly with your Infinite Campus implementation team.