UFRSD has new rapid alert system
BY JENNIFER KOHLHEPP Staff Writer

ALLENTOWN - In the event of an emergency, parents will be alerted immediately.

TheUpper Freehold Regional SchoolDistrict has implemented Alert Now, a communication system that can rapidly alert the parents and guardians of every child in grades K-12 in both emergency and nonemergency situations.

The system has the ability to send out 50,000 messages in 10 minutes, according to Manish Chaddha, the school district's director of technology.

"Child safety is our first priority here," Chaddha said.

Prior to theAlert Now system, the school district used a phone chain in the event of emergency and non-emergencies as well as letters,Web site posts and radio notifications. Although the initial communicationsworked, Chaddha said Alert Now is much more efficient.

As the student population has grown to 2,300, the phone chains have becomemore of a strain on school district staff and alsomore difficult tomaintain, he said.AlertNowtakes the burden off the staff in the event of an emergency and leaves little roomformistakes such as a missed call, he said.

Chaddha also saidAlert Now reduces the amount of time it takes for parents to find out about an incident at school.He said that often rumors spread before parents hear the truth from the school district and that Alert Now will help quellmisinformation.

In the beginning of each school year parents will be given a chance to submit up to five e-mail addresses and phone numbers for the Alert Now system. In the event of a nonemergency, the Alert Now system will send two e-mails or text messages and call two phone numbers. In the event of an emergency, the system will contact all five e-mails and phone numbers. Students and faculty are also eligible to receive messages.

Each time the district sends out a message, the system generates a report. The report provides information such as how many voice messages the system left, how many contacts answered their phones, how many contacts answered their phones but didn't listen to the entire message, how many lines were disconnected and howmany lines didn't have answering machines.

Chaddha said the school district wanted a notification systemthat could guarantee all parents would be notified in the event of an emergency and would fit into the budget of a growing school district.

"I had to do my homework and look into the cost of the products and try them out," Chaddha said.

He said after finding Alert Now, which costs $2.33 per student per year, he was surprised to hear a discussion on a local radio station regarding universities charging parents up to $1,300 per student per year for the same service.

"We pay about $5,400 per year," he said. "This gives us unlimited use of the system."

The school district has not had to use the system in an emergency, but has tested it for such situations. The school district does currently use Alert Now to send non-emergency messages such as school closings, delayed openings notices and calendar reminders and updates.

"So far the non-emergency calls and emails have been well received," Chaddha said. "There are always be some parents who will never be happy. But, if two out of 2,300 parents complain, themajority is still happy."