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She has 10,000 numbers on speed dial
The district administrator hit a button on her home computer and watched 10,000 calls get sent to the homes of Cherokee County students. It took just 21 minutes to spread the news that classes were canceled for the day. The calls were the first real test of Alert Now, the district's new rapid calling and emergency notification phone system. The school district spent $13,000 earlier last spring to activate the automated dialing program. Parents will now receive phone calls about snow days, school closings or any other schoolsrelated emergencies. "Alert Now is a really good way for us to communicate with the parents and guardians of students," McCraw said. "This gives us a quick way to notify parents when a school is closed for inclement weather or a message needs to be sent throughout the school district." While the first call took 21 minutes, McCraw said she got additional messages out Thursday evening and Friday morning on the Alert Now system within about five minutes. One call let students participating in the Martin Luther King Jr. parade know the event was rescheduled for this weekend. A second call let district employees know a health fair would still be held at Friday's staff development day. Alert Now makes calls to homes based on contact information provided to schools by parents and guardians. "It's important schools have accurate phone numbers on file so we can make sure parents can receive a message when there is an emergency," McCraw said. Not all calls generated by Alert Now are sent to all families. Principals can send a message to only students or faculty at their particular school. Calls can be made when a school bus runs late, an event is rescheduled at the last minute, or students are being sent home early. "Safety is the biggest issue," McCraw said. "We will be able to contact all the parents at a specific school or send a message throughout the school district." |
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