LEWISTON – Beginning April 3, parents of middle and high school students will be able to check on their children’s grades.

Or their attendance.

Or their homework assignments.

Or they can sign up to have their son’s or daughter’s grades or attendance automatically e-mailed to them.

Students also will be able to log in and check on their grades, their grade point average and how many credits they need.

Reacting to some parents who complained that they didn’t know their students’ grades until report cards were issued, which was too late for them to pressure better work from their students, the Lewiston School Department is launching a new program called PowerSchool.

The system is similar to one used by Auburn Middle School,

The system will be secure, only allowing those with passwords to have access to individual student’s information, school department information specialist Dorrell Spence told the School Committee this week.

Parents can also get bulletins announced in school so they know what’s going on, and they can read the latest teachers’ comments about their students, just as they would appear on a report card, Spence said.

“The whole idea is it’s a very busy life for everybody,” Superintendent Leon Levesque said. “Teachers are busy. Families have two parents working.” Communication can be difficult, he said. “This just gives another opportunity with busy schedules to provide information. It’s a big step forward creating more transparency and building better relations with parents.

School Committee member Ronella Paradis questioned whether the system would allow students to take enough responsibility for their grades. When students go to college from high school, colleges don’t send home grades. Students are on their own. “I guess I have some qualms,” Paradis said.

However, School Committee member John Butler liked what he saw. “Take it K-12 as far as I’m concerned. It’s something we desperately need in this system.”

City Councilor Larry Poulin, the mayor’s representative on the committee, agreed, but he asked whether the system would be secure. He was told it was. “We took the highest level of security we could get,” Levesque said.

Letters are being sent home to parents explaining the new system. At upcoming open houses there will be some demonstrations showing parents how to use the system, said Lewiston High School Principal Gus LeBlanc.