Corbin Schools to install emergency text messaging system

Corbin Independent Schools will be widening the roadways of communication in the Fall with a new rapid alert communication system.

The system, Schoolcast from Higher Ground, utilizes phone, text and email services to get messages out to parents, students and teachers quickly. The messages could range from weather emergencies, to dangerous situations to notification of a football practice time change.

Sherry Trimble, Director of Technology led the committee that researched this product and submitted the idea to the board.
The committee was comprised of Mark Daniels, the director of support services, the Superintendent Ed McNeel, and the principal from each school in the system.

The Corbin Board of Education Okayed the project and decided to fund the roughly $6,000 endeavor out of the general funds account.

According to Trimble, the board is considering funding the program in the future through grants if it is continued past the initial year.

The program is purchased on a yearly subscription basis and cost is based on enrollment. It will cost $2.25 per student.
Corbin isn’t the only school to test out this new type of rapid communication systems. There are a number of districts around that have started utilizing these programs including Whitley county, Jackson county and several in the Northern Kentucky area.

“After the Virginia Tech incident, you immediately saw programs like this popping up, colleges started using them at first and then schools starting picking them up as well,” Trimble said.

The committee that Trimble assembled looked at several different programs before deciding on this one and narrowed it down to five that they requested demonstrations from.

“We chose this one because it seemed a little easier and it was compatible with our database,” Trimble said.
This database already contains names and phone numbers for all students in the school system.

With this program you can create lists to send out information to. For example, if you wanted to send out a notice to parents that a practice has been changed, a list would be created to send that information out to just those people. But if there were a school cancellation due to inclement weather, everyone in the database would receive the message.

The new system will be going through a series of test runs over the summer and should be up and running in time for the new school year in the Fall.

McNeel said, “This is another way to inform the community, from general communications to emergencies.”