As the new school year made its way around for students everywhere, Athens students were given new rules to follow. This year, teachers are no longer allowed to respond to the personal email accounts of students, but only to the emails from their school regulated email.

Wake County Public School System (WCPSS) made the decision to regulate student’s email addresses in order to keep track of the conversations going on between students and teachers. With these new emails, if any suspicious activity was aroused, WCPSS would be able to immediately access it.

As the new school year rolled around, students were mailed their schedules. These usually would have been made viewable on the Student Parent Access Network (SPAN), a new software was implemented in its place this year. As the new school year brought mixed emotions, students struggled to get into contact with their counselors about schedule changes.

“It’s really frustrating because I don’t even know what my email is supposed to be, or how I get to it. I had a lot of schedule problems this year, so I didn’t know how I was supposed to get into contact with my counselor, or if he was even receiving my emails,” said Sydney Mussina, junior.  “This is my junior year that everyone says is so important, so I need to get the classes that will help me the most.”

The students in Wake County have just now, as of Monday, September 9, received their county issued accounts. Teachers can read them, but they just are not allowed to respond.

“I have a lot of stuff to email my teachers about because I’m switching around a lot of my classes, but it’s much more of a hassle now because they can’t email me back. I either have to make an appointment to talk to them in person, or have my mom email them, which is super inconvenient,” said Will Chavis, senior.

As the new school year continues to unfold, the students received their email addresses Monday, September 9 in their homerooms.