Walter Crowder, director of technology and information for the District, said parents can sign up for a new, free service: Iowa School Alerts. The service, developed by the Iowa state government, alerts parents to school closings, late starts and early dismissals on their cell phone and e-mail.
Funding for the service comes through the IOWAccess Advisory Council, which seeks to bring more e-government services to Iowa residents. The computer application was designed by the Iowa Department of Administrative Services.
The service became available this school year, and Crowder said the Muscatine School District is one of 158 districts that have signed up for it so far.
The District began testing the service in early November before deciding to offer it to the public.
“We couldn’t find anything wrong with it,” said Crowder. “It’s a wonderful service, and it’s free!”
Sign-up takes place at https://schoolalerts.iowa.gov.
After arriving at the site, users can click on “Sign Up!” in the Main Menu and follow the instructions to create a free account.
After the account is registered, users can click on “My Subscriptions” to add the school districts and buildings for which they would like to receive notices.
The alerts originate with the school superintendent who logs in from any computer with an Internet connection and creates one message that goes to everyone who has signed up to receive notices.
Media outlets, day care providers, school staff and any other community member can sign up for notices.
Crowder said some wireless service providers may charge for text messages and users are responsible for those charges.
Beau Huber, online coordinator for the Muscatine Journal, said the newspaper has also updated its access to information on school closings, delays and early dismissals.
Huber said the Quad-City Times, a sister paper to the Journal under Lee Enterprises, cooperates with the Journal to automatically update its Website, muscatinejournal.com and the Muscatine Journal television station, JTV5, with the latest information.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Cynthia Beaudette
Quelle/Source: Muscatine Journal, 07.12.2007
