Berkeley to test emergency system

School district to update contact info beforehand

All Berkeley County School District parents will receive forms in the next few days asking them for updated contact information, including telephone numbers and e-mail addresses.

The district is requesting the information before testing its new instant notification system, which gives officials the ability to reach parents within minutes during a crisis situation. Through the new Connect-Ed service, the district can send one automatic message to home phones, cell phones and e-mail addresses. Depending on the situation, the message could be sent to the parents of all of the district's 28,500 students, or it could be narrowed down and sent to parents at only one affected school.

In addition to notifying parents of emergency situations, such as a school lockdown or bomb threat, the message system also can inform parents of weather-related school closings, upcoming meetings or late buses. Information from Berkeley's 3,500 employees also will be entered into the system so they can receive similar alerts.

Pam Bailey, the district's public relations director, said Superintendent Chester Floyd hopes to send out a sample message the week of Nov. 12. Before then, parents are asked to return forms with updated contact information to their child's school. The report generated from Floyd's test message also will help the district pinpoint outdated phone numbers.

The district won't accomplish its goal if it sends messages to phone numbers no longer in service, Bailey said.

The Connect-Ed system costs roughly $75,000 per year, a total that was based on the district's enrollment last year. The district also is paying a $4,700 one-time start-up fee this year, Bailey said.

Other school districts and colleges also are looking into similar instant notification systems, including the College of Charleston, which announced in October that it plans to buy a $30,000 emergency communication system.

Reach Mindy B. Hagen at 937-5433 or mhagen@postandcourier.com.