Recently, we have been helping out with several questions related to deleted data. So if you’re clearing out records or thinking about deleting data here are some of the best times to delete or not to delete –
Mistake – Delete
You made a mistake. No worries – it happens! 🙂 Maybe a batch of student records are imported with the wrong names, a duplicate report card session is created, or a subject is made for the wrong grade- these are all great moments for the “Delete” button.
Student Left School – Don’t Delete
If your student transfers or moves away or even simply goes on leave, rather than deleting the student’s records, you can just mark the student as left. Go to the student’s record → “Actions” → Set Leave Date. And if the student is also no longer taking any classes, you just can unenroll them.
Once you note the student as left, their record will disappear from view and be removed from your billing at the next monthly cycle. However, you will still have access the records, including their transcript, and if they return, you can restore their record to your Students module.
Semester is Over – Don’t Delete
At the end of semester, it’s best not to delete any data – just go to New Semester Setup and make a new semester. This will automatically archive your previous semester’s data.
If you make a new Semester, your previous semester’s data will still be accessible in Report Cards and Transcripts and you will be able to activate the previous semester to see all of the information.
Report Cards – Don’t Delete
We totally understand how important it is that Report Cards are exactly correct, but even if you think you made a mistake in the report cards or no long need a certain batch of them, it’s best not to delete a Reporting Session (a group of report cards). Teachers may have entered grades or comments onto the report cards, and if the Reporting Session is deleted, their work on the report cards will be deleted too!
So instead of deleting, try making a second version of report card, and letting everyone know which one is the correct one to use (maybe via Teacher’s Lounge? 🙂 ) One tip to consider is using a nifty naming convention to show which version is the most recent and the right one to use.
Especially with report cards, it’s always better to be safe and keep your data, rather than delete it!
An Important Note on Data Recovery
While we do frequent backups and often can recover lost data, we can’t guarantee deleted data will be restored. But if you do run into an issue with accidentally deleting things, please let us know. We’ll hunt high and low to recover anything that might have been lost, but we can’t be certain that deleted data will still be around. Most of the time, deleted data recovery is successful, but it’s always better to be safe by archiving old data, rather than deleting it. In general, a good rule of thumb is “Delete if it didn’t happen” – deleting is for errors that weren’t ever accurate in reflecting what was actually happening at school.
Hope this helps answer a few questions you might have about when to delete things and, more importantly, when not to delete! If you have any questions or if there’s anything we can do to help, please feel free to chat in.