Update: Jan-25-2017-09:05

At this point we think we have the filter issue worked out. Renweb emails should now be going through. We will have to continue to tweak this new filter some. If there is something that is not going through, first check your 'junk email folder' then let us know if it's not there. We are having to set it to allow things that look like spam in. (for example quizlet was getting marked as spam and quarantined. Because I'm also a teacher, I know it needs to go through. But it 'looks like spam' to the filter. 

This is to alert you that there are significant email issues and that we are working on it. 

What are the issues?

• Students and teachers are not receiving their emails, or the emails are received but delayed. 

• Why is this happening?

  There are two big reasons that this is happening. 

1. 1. We are being forced to migrate to another mail service early.
      1. We figured out at the beginning of the school year that we were going to have to do something else about our email as our current system was going to fail. We had a plan in place, but were trying to hold off till summer to pull that trigger.  The email issues we've been having have forced to do that early.  (Thank goodness there was a plan in place.)
      2. As a result some crazy things are happening while we make the move. (some emails are going to old account, some are going to new account, etc)
   2. We've been forced to use a different email filter program
      1. Because our email is far from cryptic. (eg. shawn.liner instead of sliner3753 or similiar) it is really easy for someone to send us spam. So we have to have some sort of filter in place. We were using Nuvotera. You may remember the warnings that it was ending. 
      2. We had a replacement in mind early, but ran into a snag when we figured out that we had been getting education pricing from nuvotera and only paying for the teacher accounts. The new companies  were not willing to do that (an increase of $20k/yr).  
      3. So we had to move to another service later that originally expected. The good news is we have found a reliable service that will not break the budget. However, we are having to make this transition at the same time as the email migration
      4. as a result some emails are being 'quarantined' that shouldn't be. For example it was discovered that renweb was being blocked despite a setting that should have allowed them through. We were able to release some of them in the wee hours this morning (1/24) so you may see some come through. 

• When will it get fixed ?!!!

  • I wish i had a solid answer to that. We have our consultant company working on this as fast as they can. 

  • There is a chance it could be resolved today. 

  • Realistically, I think a couple of days at least before everything is smooth again

• Give me some good news

  • After this email migration is over, we will have enhanced functionality of our email. 
  • For example you'll be able to create a calendar event for you entire class
  • We'll have access to an easier way to send files and receive assignments from students (that won't involve email)

I wish i had a quick solution. Trust me if this was a flip of the switch that switch would have been flipped a long time ago. I rely on email for just about everything i do. 

We are doing everything we can to get it fixed. 

Shawn Liner