Use of Emergency Notification Growing in Texas, Tapped for Swine Flu Calls

  • By Dian Schaffhauser
  • 06/23/09

Four school districts in Texas have gone public with their implementation of SchoolReach Instant Parent Contact system this year. Those are San Felipe Del Rio Consolidated Independent School District, Keene ISD, Schulenburg ISD, and Santa Gertrudis ISD in Kingsville. In May the Texas Region 17 Education Service Center announced it had entered an agreement with SchoolReach wherein service center members, consisting of the 20 counties surrounding Lubbock, will receive a discount in subscribing to the service.

The SchoolReach parent notification system allows school administrators to deliver personalized phone, e-mail, or text messages to parents, teachers, staff, or designated groups within the school and general community.

West Oso ISD in Corpus Christi, a long-time subscriber, also recently shared details of its use of SchoolReach to communicate a swine flu-related school closure.

"The health department notified us on a Friday night that we had a probable case," said Grace Garza, the district's public education information management system coordinator. Garza logged into the Web-based system from her home, used the system's data integrator software to update the recipient lists, and then created a message notifying all district staff and parents.

"Our families have children in several schools, so it's difficult for parents to keep some at home and send others to school," Garza explained. And although the district also made use of local media, Garza felt it was important to send parents a more detailed message about the situation via the notification system. She had the opportunity to once more use the system away from the office when the duration of the closure was shortened from the originally proposed week to only three days.

She considers the "mobile" nature of the system a major advantage. "You don't have to be at your computer in your office. You can use it anywhere with Internet connectivity," she said.

West Oso ISD implemented SchoolReach in 2007 as a replacement for a modem-based notification system that Garza declined to name but described as "antiquated." The previous system was so expensive that it was purchased for only two of the schools and proved so cumbersome that those schools only used it to inform parents about attendance issues. "We had a hard time getting assistance from that software company," recalled Garza. Now all the district's schools are using SchoolReach to communicate about attendance issues as well as announce functions, PTA meetings, and other events.

About the Author

Dian Schaffhauser is a former senior contributing editor for 1105 Media's education publications THE Journal, Campus Technology and Spaces4Learning.

Featured

  • a cloud, an AI chip, and a padlock interconnected by circuit-like lines

    CrowdStrike Report: Attackers Increasingly Targeting Cloud, AI Systems

    According to the 2025 Threat Hunting Report from CrowdStrike, adversaries are not just using AI to supercharge attacks — they are actively targeting the AI systems organizations deploy in production. Combined with a surge in cloud exploitation, this shift marks a significant change in the threat landscape for enterprises.

  • student reading a book with a brain, a protective hand, a computer monitor showing education icons, gears, and leaves

    4 Steps to Responsible AI Implementation in Education

    Researchers at the University of Kansas Center for Innovation, Design & Digital Learning (CIDDL) have published a new framework for the responsible implementation of artificial intelligence at all levels of education, from preschool through higher education.

  • figures sitting around a round table, discussing over an open book, papers, and glasses

    Alliance for Learning Innovation, Digital Promise Form National Education R&D Advisory Committee

    The Alliance for Learning Innovation (ALI) and Digital Promise are bringing together a coalition of education leaders to help develop a national education research and development agenda and foster innovation in schools and districts across the country.

  • red brick school building with a large yellow "AI" sign above its main entrance

    New National Academy for AI Instruction to Provide Free AI Training for Educators

    In an effort to "transform how artificial intelligence is taught and integrated into classrooms across the United States," the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), in partnership with Microsoft, OpenAI, Anthropic, and the United Federation of Teachers, is launching the National Academy for AI Instruction, a $23 million initiative that will provide access to free AI training and curriculum for all AFT members, beginning with K-12 educators.