By The Clanton Advertiser staff

The swine flu is going around, tornadoes are touching down in Lomax with no warning, and unceasing rains have washed out roads and washed away bridges.

It’s times like these to know school officials have our students’ safety in mind—and to know that those officials can contact parents about what the plan is to keep our children safe.

A telephone communication system adopted by the Chilton County Board of Education will make it easier to do that. The crisis communication system allows the central office and individual schools to store contact numbers in large databases. A recorded message can then be sent out to all the numbers in a database. So, if tornadoes are expected and a particular school decides to close early, all it takes is one recorded message to let every parent of every student know they will need to make arrangements to pick their child up from school.

And the system is versatile. Say a particular teacher needs to let only the parents of his students know about an upcoming field trip. No problem. Picture day just around the corner? It’ll be easy to let everyone know. But there’s one important part of the process: In order for someone to be contacted, the system has to have his or her telephone number.

So, those with children in school need to make sure the school has updated information for them. Parents need to know when an emergency arises.

More North Chilton

Jemison High School names students of the month from April

Parole granted by board for Chilton offender

AOTW: Seeley shoves for Thorsby

Sammons’ restoration of cars, feet aided by St. Vincent’s