JISD to test new system Monday
By JIMMY GALVAN Managing Editor

All Jasper Independent School District students' parents will be receiving calls Monday, Dec. 10 concerning their students.

No reason to take back all those Christmas presents just yet.

The school district will be testing its new School Messenger program by calling all parents of students enrolled in the district.

"This program can provide any number of different things such as attendance or school emergencies," said JISD's Human Resources Director Chris Coleman. "It's a communications device that the district can utilize to contact every number that they have listed for students and employees in the district.

"It's a rapid fire system that can make several thousands of calls in the matter of a few minutes," Coleman said.

The program is brand new to the district and Coleman said he believes it will open another line of communication between the district and the parents of students in the district.

He said that by testing the program the district is hoping to find out just how many correct numbers are listed with the students.

"What we are trying to do is let everyone know that we are going to do this (Dec. 10) and if they don't receive a call, and they should, to contact their student's campus," Coleman said. "We need to make sure we have updated numbers."

Coleman said the test would be done in the evening hours.

"That way we have a better chance of catching folks at home," Coleman said.

He said the program has already been tested on the district employees with mixed results. Coleman said during the initial tests it was found that 20 percent of the district's employees' number had to be updated.

"We are trying to get as high as of a percentage possible through this test to make sure we have updated information," Coleman said.

He said the system would be vitally important during bad weather days so that parents could be notified about school closings.

"We could send a mass message out that would get to all our student's parents and district employees and inform them of any situation," Coleman said.

Coleman said that each campus would have access to send out their own information including upcoming events that are going to be held at a school.

"Principals can send out messages to just the kids from that campus notifying of any special days that are being held at that campus," Coleman said. "If it's Pajama Day at Few, the principal can send out a reminder to the parents about this.

"It has a great deal of value to us as far as communication because that is one of the things that many of our patrons wish they knew about upcoming events," Coleman said. "Parents don't always get the notes in the backpacks. This is just another way that we can use technology to our advantage and keep our parents as informed as possible."

He added that the system would also aid in checking on any students who have missed a day of school by contacting the parents in the evening to verify that absence.

The program was not mandated by the Texas Education Agency but rather a program that the district felt was needed to help along the lines of communication.

"It was just a technological advancement that we thought would be beneficial for our schools," Coleman said. "It cost us but we just felt like it was a great opportunity for us to maintain contact communication with our parents as quick as possible."

Letters will be sent out with students this week notifying the parents of this system's test. The letter will list contact numbers at each campus so that parents can verify contact numbers before the test is run.

"We are anticipating a high percentage of numbers in this first test," Coleman said. "This gives us an opportunity to follow up and correct it before the system is put in full use. We are just trying to work the kinks out and make this system as efficient as possible."

Eventually, the program will also generate emails to parents on different issues as well.

"That way little Johnny can't erase the message when he gets home telling his parents that he wasn't at school," Coleman said. "This just gives the parent one more access to information in that we can contact them as quickly as possible with any status."