School District upgrades system

By ANTON MENNING, Leavenworth Times Staff Writer

When inclement weather forces cancellations or emergencies strike, the Easton School District can call parents and students quickly thanks to a new communication system.

The SchoolReach System allows administrators to notify parents in a matter of minutes, eliminating clumsy telephone trees and announcements run by the media.

"It's a program that is designed to handle a large number of calls fairly quickly," Superintendent Charles Coblentz said.

The St. Louis-based system calls the message's targeted group, be it the baseball team, student council or the entire school and tracks the people who answered the phone, and listened to the entire message or only part of the message. If the line is busy or nobody answers, the system automatically retries the number 15 minutes later.

Coblentz said the system could call home numbers, cell phones or work numbers depending, on which number parents prefer. "It gives us flexibility about how we contact people," he said.

Many school districts and universities throughout the region have already adopted some version of Easton's communication system.

The SchoolReach system costs about $1,000 annually, Coblentz said. There are more expensive options available that let parents inquire into their children's lunch money accounts and other details of a students' school life.

However, Easton's system is more basic.

In addition to cancellations and emergencies, the system can be used for general announcements, reminders or to dispel an incorrect rumor.

"Communication is key," Coblentz said.