Parents will be able to opt for cell phone or e-mail contact for emergency information such as closings.
By: Eileen Oldfield
Hillsborough teachers and parents will soon look to their e-mail inbox or cell phone for school closings, rather than the radio or the television, after the Board of Education approved a contract for an instant emergency alert system, recently.
The $17,000-a-year contract with Honeywell International Inc., of Morristown, will provide the school district with an alert server to notify teachers and parents of emergency announcements, such as school closings. The contract was approved at the board’s May 21 meeting.
Board member John Donnadio voted against the contract, noting that while the alert system seems useful, the cost factor doesn’t make sense to him.
"I don’t think that it’s an unworthy cause," Mr. Donnadio, who cast the lone vote against the contract, said. "I’m not convinced that we need it at this point."
With the new system, messages will go out via name and phone number provided by parents and others who register for the service; parents could choose the contact methods, which include cell phones, e-mail, pagers, and land line phones.
"Whenever we have an emergency, we go on the server and put the message out," said Assistant Superintendent of Business Tom Venanzi. "The message goes out to parents."
The contact method determines whether the message is written or recorded. In September, parents and staff will get instructions on accessing the Web site, and on choosing their contact method.
Likewise, parents can opt out of the program if they are not interested.
School principals will also be able to send notes to their staff via the system, though the superintendent can send districtwide messages, too.
Honeywell’s program is a three-year contract, and lasts from July 1, 2007 to July 30, 2010. Though the district can terminate the contract before 2010, a termination fee of 50 percent of the total contract would apply.
The board is considering sharing the alert system with the police, to notify them about school closings.
While the police and parents can receive messages via Honeywell’s system, only school principals and the superintendent can post to the server.
According to Mr. Donnadio, the money spent on the server could be used to directly benefit the classrooms and teachers, or Hillsborough could share payments with other school districts to make the service more cost-effective.
"This seems like an area where we could reach out to Montgomery or Bridgewater," he said.
Schools can use the system for any type of school closing, including weather closings, school threats, and building problems.
Currently, Hillsborough puts school closing information on the district Web site, Channel 14, News 12 NJ, the board of education phone line, and the a.m. radio stations WOR (710), WCTC (1450), WHWH (1350), and 1610AM. The broadcasted messages will continue, also.

