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Eudora Schools Implement SchoolReach System During Bomb Threat
Overview
On April 19, 2007, just days after the massacre at Virginia Tech, a threat was left with Douglas County, KS officials. The threat was non-specific, stating a bomb was at a school and at a city hall within the county. Douglas County is home to multiple public school districts and Kansas University. Eudora School District was notified of the threat and officials immediately swept all buildings and buses to ensure the Eudora properties were secure. School proceeded as planned. Throughout the day, as the local media coverage of the threat increased, so did parent calls to the district. Eudora officials turned to the SchoolReach System to calm the nerves of parents.
Strategy
In the wake of the Virginia Tech shootings, the country was extremely vulnerable to copycat situations. Parental concern was extremely high and as a result, the non-specific bomb threat created a nerve-racking situation for parents and school administrators. In order to immediately squash rumors and fears, Eudora officials decided to send out a message via the SchoolReach Messaging System.
The Superintendent of Eudora and other district officials composed a message assuring parents that Eudora students were safe due to the precautions taken by school officials earlier in the day. The message let parents know that school would proceed as usual and that the school had been locked down to guarantee Eudora schools were out of harm's way from additional threats.
Later that afternoon, administrators sent out a follow-up call informing parents that the suspect was in custody and there was no threat to students. The message also added that after school activities were scheduled as planned.
Results
With a school system of 1,400 students, conventional phone chains would have taken parent volunteers hours to reach every parent. The SchoolReach system contacted almost 4,000 adults in a matter of minutes.
After the bomb threat, parents and school administrators were so pleased with the SchoolReach System that it is now a mandatory part of the district's crisis management plan. A SchoolReach broadcast is a mandatory step in parental notification. Starting in the 2007-2008 school year, parents will be asked to indicate specific phone numbers they would like contacted via the SchoolReach System in the student's emergency contact form.
The quick thinking of school officials and the extensive capabilities of the SchoolReach system enabled the Eudora School District to get in front of a developing situation. As a result, parental nerves were calmed, students were kept safe and the disruption to the school day was kept to a minimum.