Merging students

At a glance

Who uses it: Admins resolving duplicates introduced by imports or LMS sync.
When to use it: After confirming two records actually represent the same student.
Permissions required: Administrator. Merging is irreversible without a support escalation.
Navigation path: Students → open the duplicate → ⋯ menu → Merge.

Purpose

Two records for the same student fragment the case history and confuse reports. Merging combines them into one canonical record while preserving every case, alias, and note from both.

Before you begin

Decide which record is the kept (canonical) record. Usually the one that's been in the system longer or that more cases reference.
Confirm both records are genuinely the same student (same name, same school, same grade, plausible alias overlap).
Have an admin colleague review with you for high-profile cases — merging is logged but disruptive.

Step-by-step

Open the record you want to merge into the canonical one (i.e. the one that will be absorbed).
⋯ → Merge.
In the dialog, search for the kept record by name or student ID.
Click Preview merge. The preview lists:
- Cases that will move (with status and assignment).
- Aliases that will be added to the kept record.
- Fields where the two records differ (you choose which value wins).
Review the preview carefully.
Click Confirm merge. The merge runs and is audit-logged with a full before/after snapshot.

[SCREENSHOT: student-merge-preview] Students → Merge dialog Preview step showing 3 cases moving and 2 aliases being added; field-conflict picker visible on the right.

What is preserved

All cases (with original status, owner, notes, follow-ups).
All aliases (combined, deduplicated).
All audit-log entries.
Original case timestamps.

What is replaced

Identity fields (name, grade, primary teacher) take whichever value you chose in the picker.
The absorbed record's profile page redirects to the kept record.

Tips & best practices

Before merging, search by both legal and preferred name and by every known alias.
For high-PII situations (recent name change, custody changes), confirm with a counselor before merging.
Add an alias from the absorbed record's old student ID to the kept record so future imports route correctly.

Common mistakes

Merging students with the same name but different schools or grades — almost always different humans.
Picking the wrong canonical record — the absorbed record's profile URL no longer resolves directly.

FAQ

Can a merge be undone? The merge produces an audit-log snapshot with before/after state. Reversal is a manual support escalation, not a one-click undo — that's intentional.

What happens to teachers attached to the absorbed record? They are added to the kept record (deduplicated). Their visibility is preserved.