Kaneland OKs alert system for emergencies

Kaneland will implement a reverse-calling system next year for emergencies.

The Kaneland Unit District school board this week approved buying the system for the 2008-2009 school year for $13,850.

The system can make millions of pre-recorded calls to parents' phone numbers in a short time frame.

At the beginning of next year, it will only be used for safety issues and school closings, Superintendent Charles McCormick said.

In the future it could be expanded to include late bus notices, information about fees being due or upcoming school meetings.

District officials want to discuss the possible uses for the system with its Citizens Advisory Committee in the fall to set guidelines on its use, McCormick said.

"We know there are problems with those things sometimes being overused," he said. "We want to know, do you want a call if the bus is 10 minutes late? Maybe not. But if it's an hour late, maybe yes."

Since the Connect-ED system has servers all across the country, it would work even if there was a widespread power outage, officials said.

The numbers parents give when signing up their students at the beginning of the year will likely automatically be entered into the system, McCormick said.

It has the capacity to only call the parents of children in a certain school or on a certain bus route.

Administrators could potentially use the system to tell parents about informational referendum meetings but the numbers wouldn't be accessible to a referendum committee, McCormick said.