REGION 15 SCHOOLS INSTALLS AND TESTS NEW EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION SYSTEM

ALERTNOW Can Contact Thousands of Parents/Guardians Within Minutes

 To further improve its communication with parents and guardians, Pomperaug Regional School District 15 has installed a web-based rapid notification system to inform parents of an emergency.  The new emergency notification system, called ALERTNOW, can contact thousands of parents and guardians simultaneously, using the contact telephone number on file at the child’s school and, eventually, through E-mail.

   Keith McLiverty, the district’s director of finance and operations, said that the rapid-caller system can contact thousands of parents and guardians at the same time, within five minutes. This system works even when local power is out, and if Internet or local school phone lines are inoperable. ALERTNOW will deliver critical first hand information to parents that will improve the safety of the students, staff and parents.

   Following a letter sent to parents and guardians last month, district administrators tested the system on December 27th.

    “The first call to parents and guardians was successful,” said Mr. McLiverty. “Less than one percent of the calls had incorrect phone numbers, and we’re working to correct these. We’ll arrange for another test in the near future.”

    In case of an emergency, the district has the ability to contact parents of students immediately without using the school’s phone lines. If a school is closing due to an emergency, or the district is taking action to ensure the safety of the students, the message will convey to parents any actions that need to be taken or that were taken.

    “Instant communication is considered standard for many of the technologically-savvy parents and guardians in Region 15,” said Mr. McLiverty. “If a critical incident occurs, or anything that requires that we contact parents quickly, this emergency notification system is invaluable.”

    The system is programmed to only call the telephone number on file once, should a family have more than one child enrolled in the Region 15 school system. School administrators can also customize ALERTNOW to only contact parents and guardians by town, school, grade, or teacher.

    “When it comes to an emergency, we can never underestimate the power of communicating with families,” said Mr. McLiverty.