State requires school emergency notification system
A process for alerting parents and the community when there is a school emergency has long been in place, but with the passage of a state bill earlier this summer, that notification system will also have to be in place between local school systems and the state department of education.
Gov. Kay Ivey recently signed House Bill 89, “which requires the Alabama Department of Education to develop and implement an electronic notification system to facilitate the sharing of school emergency-related information between local schools, local school systems, the department and the governor,” according to a press release from the governor’s office.
“As a former school teacher, I know the importance of keeping everyone informed of what is going on in our schools. This notification system is a much-needed source of information to clarify the sometimes-murky communications in times of emergency,” Ivey said. “I appreciate Rep. Alan Baker for his hard work and leadership sponsoring this legislation.”
But local superintendents are split on the necessity of such a notification system.
The intent of the bill is that all local schools and local school systems use the electronic notification system as a means to input specific information relating to school delays, early releases, shelter-in-place information, and other emergency-related information to improve communications on all levels.
Russellville City Schools Superintendent Heath Grimes said that although the bill might be well-intentioned, it adds a layer of bureaucracy that isn’t particularly needed.
“Those things just pile up on our teachers and principals,” said Grimes. He said RCS already effectively handles notifications locally, alerting parents of any potential threat or early release for weather or other causes. Although the requirement to now notify Montgomery in these instances is not overly burdensome, Grimes said, he sees the additional level of notification as an unnecessary requirement to alert the state about information that doesn’t really impact them.
For Franklin County School Superintendent Greg Hamilton, the new notification system seems like something of a non-issue.
“We already do that,” Hamilton said. “I thought we already had good notifications in place; I don’t have a problem doing that. If we have a weather day or whatever the case might be, if I know that night, I notify them by email.”
The bill requires the Alabama Department of Education to implement the electronic notification system by Oct. 1.
