publicschool.software · For public schools · Free core tools · 2026

Free publications and records for your public school — funded by sales the school controls, not a vendor.

Public schools count every dollar and every consent form. publicschool.software hands a building the expensive parts for free — the yearbook and newspaper editor, the online edition, the family directory, and ID cards — and earns its keep through honest sales the school controls: sponsor ad space, a parent store priced above a code-enforced cost floor, and fundraisers where the platform takes none of the gift. The budget math works without a purchase order, and the school — not a vendor — keeps control of the money.

Book a conversation See the budget math

$0 core tierthe publications editor, the directory, and ID cards settle no money

Never skims a giftfundraisers where the platform takes none of what a family gives

Cost floor in codea below-cost listing is refused, so the school never sells at a loss

One roster, keyed oncedirectory, ID cards, publications, and picture day read the same roster

How the budget math works

Do more with less: the expensive parts free, the sales the school’s own

The model is simple and honest. The costly publications-and-records work is free. What a public school earns to pay for the rest, it earns from sales it already runs — and it keeps that money. There is no vendor sitting in the middle taking a cut.

The expensive parts are free

The publications editor — yearbook, the newspaper, and the online edition — and the records tier — enrollment, the family directory, and ID cards — are live today and settle no money. That is the depth a well-funded school pays a national yearbook vendor for, handed to a public building at no license cost.

The sales are the school’s to keep

Sponsor ad space — the school sets the rate and keeps the revenue; the platform takes no cut of an ad sale.
A parent store above cost — a code-enforced cost floor refuses a below-cost listing, so the school keeps the larger leg and never sells at a loss.
Fundraisers with a zero platform take — a rule in code holds the platform’s cut of a gift at zero, so every dollar reaches the program.

The rules and the ledger for all three are built. Live payment is honest-off: the platform does not process payments yet, so no card is charged on this site today, and the picture-day store is in early access.

The school keeps control of the money

Because the cost floor and the zero-platform-take on a gift are guards in code, the numbers are not a promise a sales rep makes — they are enforced. The ledger shows exactly what a slot, a store item, or a drive would net the program, so a small office can see the budget math before it commits to anything. Cost floor enforced in code

What is built

Six capabilities for a budget-stretched public school — each labelled honestly

Every capability says where it stands: Free means built, live today, and settling no money. Where a money surface is described, the label says the rules and ledger are built but live payment is honest-off — no card is charged on this site yet.

Free, complete publications — the depth a funded school pays a vendor for

The yearbook, the newspaper, and the online edition come in one editor, at no license cost, with the finish a well-funded school pays a national yearbook vendor to get. Set your own fonts, colors, and house style once and carry them across all three. A print check refuses a broken job before it ships, so the book that arrives matches the school’s standard. This tier is free to the school and settles no money.

Free · live today · settles no money

One roster, keyed once, used everywhere

Sign in with the standard single sign-on your school already uses, or import from your student information system once. From then on the family directory, ID cards, publications, and picture day all read the same roster — no re-keying a name into a second system. It is the plumbing that makes one small office run publications and records at once without doubling its data-entry work.

Free · live today · SSO + one-time roster import

The quiet records back office

Enrollment, the family directory, and ID cards live in one private system instead of a binder and three spreadsheets — the unglamorous work a public school still has to get exactly right. It is a records-and-publications daily-driver that complements your system of record; it is not a certified, full academic system-of-record, and we say so rather than imply a certification we do not hold.

Free · live today · records daily-driver

Ad space the school sells and keeps — the platform takes no cut

Sell sponsor slots in the yearbook and the paper at a rate the school sets, and keep the revenue. The platform never takes a cut of an ad sale. The placement flow and the ledger that shows what each slot is worth are built — but live payment is honest-off: the platform does not process payments yet, so no card is charged on this site today. The model is real; the charge is held until the payment rail is turned on honestly.

Model + ledger built · live payment honest-off

Fundraisers the platform never skims

A rule in code holds the platform’s take on a gift at zero, so every dollar a family gives reaches the program. The fundraiser ledger and that no-skim guard are built and you can see exactly what a drive nets. Live payment is honest-off — no card is charged here yet — and nothing on this page is tax or financial advice: whether a gift is deductible is the school’s or booster club’s determination, not ours.

No-skim guard built · live payment honest-off

A parent store held above a code-enforced cost floor

An item cannot be listed below a floor derived from its cost, so the school never accidentally sells at a loss and a family is never charged past the school’s own markup — the school keeps the larger leg. That cost floor is a guard in code, not a suggestion. The store rules and the floor are built; the picture-day store itself is in early access and settles no live money yet.

Cost-floor guard built · picture-day store early access

A privacy story you can defend to a parent

Rosters stay private, and finding a child’s photo is a permission-checked lookup — not a face match

Rosters and the family directory stay in our own private system and are never sold or shared with an outside company. Finding a child’s photo is a permission-checked roster lookup, not a face match. Facial recognition is off by default. Photos are never sold, and a photo is sellable only when permission allows.

Data involving minor students is consent-gated — a family opts in before any disclosure — is never made public, and consent can be withdrawn at any time. It is the truth you can tell a discerning parent, in plain words, without a caveat you would have to walk back.

What is free and live, and what is honest-off — plainly

The tools are built and free. The money model is built. Live payment is honest-off.

Built, free, and live today: the publications editor (the yearbook, the newspaper, and the online edition), the family directory, and ID cards; the standard single sign-on and the one-time roster import; and the money RULES — the ad-placement and fundraiser flows, the code-enforced cost floor, the zero-platform-take on a gift, and the ledger that shows what a sale would net the school.

Honest-off — present but not enabled for live use: LIVE PAYMENT. The platform does not process payments yet, so no card is charged on this site today, and money does not move. The picture-day store, texted family alerts, and route planning are in early access. We invent no school counts, adoption numbers, or testimonials — the honest anchors are the free tools and the coded money guards, not a claim of adoption.

One more precise point: publicschool.software is a for-profit software vendor serving public schools — not a school, a district, or a nonprofit. Public schools are public entities; the platform that serves them is a for-profit product. Nothing here is legal, tax, or financial advice, and whether a fundraiser gift is deductible is the school’s or booster club’s determination, not ours.

The platform underneath

Built on the school publishing platform

publicschool.software is the budget-minded public-school front door on a broader school platform. The same platform runs enrollment, student records, publications, communications, and yearbooks for schools of every kind; homeroom.software is the publishing platform it is built on, yearbook.sale is where a family reserves the school’s yearbook, and publicschool.network is the sibling governance front for elected-board work in the open. publicschool.software is a for-profit product — a software vendor serving public schools, not a school, district, or nonprofit itself.

homeroom.software Read the FAQ

Bring your public school on · See the current state honestly

Book a conversation

The core is free, and the honest next step is a conversation, not a checkout. There is no pricing commitment and no signup on this page. We show the current state plainly: what is free and live (the publications editor, the directory, ID cards, single sign-on, and roster import), what is built with live payment held off (ad sales, the parent store, and fundraisers), and what is in early access (the picture-day store, texted family alerts, and route planning). If it fits your budget and your building, we discuss what coming on looks like.

To book: email [email protected].

FAQ

Common questions

Is publicschool.software really free?

The core is free: the publications editor (yearbook, newspaper, and online edition), the family directory, and ID cards settle no money. There is no per-student license fee for that tier. The platform earns its keep instead through sales the SCHOOL controls and keeps — ad space, a parent store, picture day, and fundraisers — not by charging the school. Money is honest-off today, though: the platform does not process live payments yet, so no card is charged on this site.

How can the tools be free -- what is the catch?

There is no per-seat license. The platform earns from the sales a public school already makes, and the school keeps that money: sponsor ad space at the school’s own rate, a parent store priced above a coded cost floor, and picture day. The platform’s cut of a fundraiser gift is zero, held there by a rule in code. When the payment rail turns on, the school controls the money, not a vendor sitting in the middle of it.

What is the code-enforced cost floor?

A listing cannot be published below a floor derived from its cost. That means a school never accidentally sells a book, a print, or a spirit item at a loss, and a family is never charged past the school’s own markup. It is a guard in code that refuses the below-cost listing, not a warning a busy adviser can click past. The floor is built; the store that uses it is in early access and settles no live money yet.

Do you take a cut of our fundraiser?

No. The platform’s take on a gift is zero, held there by a rule in code, so every dollar a family gives reaches the program. The fundraiser ledger and that no-skim guard are built. Live payment is honest-off — no card is charged here yet — and nothing here is tax or financial advice: whether a gift is deductible is the school’s or booster club’s determination, not ours.

Is our student roster safe?

Rosters stay in our own private system and are never sold or shared with an outside company. Finding a child’s photo is a permission-checked roster lookup, not a face match. Facial recognition is off by default. Photos are never sold, and a photo is sellable only when permission allows. Data involving minor students is consent-gated, is never made public, and consent can be withdrawn at any time.

How do students and staff sign in?

With the standard single sign-on your school already uses, or a one-time import from your student information system. After that, the family directory, ID cards, publications, and picture day all read the same roster — so a small office is not re-keying the same student name into a second system.

Is publicschool.software a school, a district, or a nonprofit?

No. publicschool.software is a for-profit software vendor whose product is this platform for public schools. Public schools are public entities; the software that serves them is a for-profit product. We are precise about the difference, because it matters: this site sells software, and the money a school makes on the platform belongs to the school.

What is live and free versus what is honest-off?

Live and free: the publications editor, the family directory, ID cards, single sign-on, and the one-time roster import. Built, with live payment honest-off: ad sales, the parent store, and fundraisers — the rules, the cost floor, the no-skim math, and the ledger are built, but the platform does not process live payments yet, so no card is charged on this site. Early access: the picture-day store, texted family alerts, and route planning.

How do we get started?

By a conversation, not a checkout. There is no pricing commitment and no signup on this page. Email [email protected] and we will show the current state honestly: what is free and live, what is built with live payment held off, and what is early access.