Now, if involved families want to reach out to a teacher, they have to rely on the school or hope an online staff directory is updated. And if teachers want to reach out to families and let them know how their students are doing in school, they need to look up their contact information and hope its up-to-date — or find alternate messaging platforms.
I completed high school about 15 years ago. Back then, most communication between parents and teachers was done by phone and mail. The default assumption by the NYCDOE that every problem needs an app or program is unexplained. Using phones and keeping contact directories up to date is something that had to be done not long ago.