SPRINGFIELD, Ore. (KMTR) – The Springfield Public School District is preparing for wintery conditions and possible closures and delays by adding a few tools to help parents find out what they need to know.
Guardians and students can sign up for FlashAlert using three e-mail addresses and/or phone numbers. By doing so, they sign up for emergency notifications via text message or electronic mail. When schools are delayed, close or have other emergency information to relay to the public, the news comes to them rather than having to worry about finding out themselves.
"You get up in the morning and you're checking the news, maybe you just missed the part when they were talking about it, and so you're sitting there in the midst of the unknown and then you need to log into the website and check it out...if you sign up for a text message alert or email alert, it's coming to you,” said Jeff DeFranco from Springfield Public Schools.
In addition, the district will stay up to date with social media. They said parents can like them on Facebook and check status updates for up-to-the-minute information. Twitter is another option. The district will tweet information via “@SpringfieldPS.”
Last year, the district closed schools twice due to wintery conditions. Administrators inspect the roads as early as 4:30 AM and typically make a decision by 6:30 AM, according to DeFranco. He said people have to remember that some students come from areas that have higher elevations and worse conditions. In addition, the busses have a hard time transporting kids when the weather is bad.
Other area districts have similar systems to sign up for. One can simply inquire with the school office or website to find out.
DeFranco said it is easy to sign up for the Springfield School District text and e-mail alerts. Click
here to do so.
