Contact Types: Parents, Family, Approved Pickups, and Emergency Contacts

Admins, Managers, and Lead Staff can choose between four contact types when adding student contacts: Parent, Family, Approved Pickup, and Emergency Contact. Each contact type has varying permissions and privileges, as outlined below!

Contacts and Access

Parent	Can create a brightwheel account Can check a student in and out Can update their personal contact information and check-in code Can see all updates in the Daily Feed Can message the school and receive messages in an inbox/sent box that is shared between only Schools and Parents Can view child's profile Can access billing and payment information by default Can add or remove other adults from the child's profile (if the program enables editing permissions) Can edit child's profile information (if the program enables editing permissions)
Family	Can create a brightwheel account Can check a student in and out Can update their personal contact information and check-in code Can see all updates in the Daily Feed Can message the program on the app only and cannot receive messages from the program Cannot access billing and payment information by default Cannot add or remove other adults from the child's profile Cannot edit child's profile information
Approved Pickup	Can create a brightwheel account Can check a student in and out Can update their personal contact information and check-in code Cannot see all updates in the Daily Feed Cannot send or receive messages Cannot access billing and payment information by default Cannot add or remove other adults from the child's profile Cannot edit child's profile information
Emergency Contact	These contacts have no access to the child's brightwheel profile and will not be invited/cannot create their own brightwheel account. They also do not have pickup privileges. This is simply a point of contact for the program in the event of an emergency.

💡It's important to note that on our most current Billing experience, Family and Approved Pickups can be added as payers on a student's account. Additionally, while parents have access to billing and payment information by default, in this Billing experience, they can also be removed as a payer.