Ex student is now a parent - link contact or not?

[chriscubed]

Hello all,

 

I have the unusual situation of an ex student now being added on SIMS as the parent of a new student.

 

In this case would you link the existing contact from their student days, as the parent record for the new student?

 

Or would you create a new contact for the parent?

[jmak]

I'd say new contact. There's no reason for you to hold medical or educational records about a parent (or associate them with a current student).

 

There are specific time periods to hold data after someone has left education. If you use the original record for a parent contact, you'll end up exceeding the data retention requirement.

[elsiegee40]

New contact. Data Protection/GDPR ... there is no reason to retain student data for a parent.

[hardtailstar]

I wouldn't say that is unusual. As lots of parents want their children to go to the same school as them in my experience.

Our school is full of children from ex students.

[GrumbleDook]

As others have said ... a new contact. You are holding their data in the particular of as a parent. Their role as a student is almost irrelevant and their data will slowly disappear as you apply your retention schedule.

[chriscubed]

Thank you everyone, it's good to get a consensus on these things.

 

I'm sure it's not unusual for a lot of schools, however we've not been around for long enough for it to have been a regular occurence in the past!

[enjay]

Thank you everyone, it's good to get a consensus on these things.

 

I'm sure it's not unusual for a lot of schools, however we've not been around for long enough for it to have been a regular occurence in the past!

 

You will see it more often. Also, ex-students as staff. My previous school had someone who was an ex-student, parent and staff member.

[AlistairB1983]

Apologies for resurrecting an old post, but I couldn't find anything mentioned elsewhere on here.

 

Is there a way to unlink contacts on SIMS after they've been linked?

 

My current school has (or rather had!) a policy of always linked ex-student accounts to any parent/staff accounts when they returned. But I'm now starting to delete the ex-student details (currently working on ex-students born 1982!) and have found an account linked to an ex-staff member who left last summer (so I can't delete their staff account). I'm hoping that if there is a way to 'unlink' I can then delete the student one.

 

Grateful for any held/advice anyone is able to give (as no one else in the office is particularly insightful - several still muttering that they should be linked )