HISD urges parents to update
phone numbers as school starts
Hurricane Dean adds to urgency of good numbers
for automatic phone messaging
August 17, 2007 – As the start of school approaches and Hurricane Dean lurks, HISD officials are urging parents to give the school district accurate telephone numbers to make sure parents get important phone and email messages from school.
HISD has a blazing fast automatic phone messaging system that allows school principals and district officials to contact tens of thousands of parents in minutes in an emergency or with other important school information.
HISD successfully delivered more than 3.3 million phone call messages to parents and staff last school year. But incorrect telephone numbers from some families meant that as many as 18 percent of telephone numbers contacted by the automatic phone messaging system in some months last school year were bad numbers.
With school set to start on August 27 and with Hurricane Dean bearing down on the Gulf of Mexico and half the hurricane season still to go, HISD officials are urging parents to make sure to give schools accurate home, office and cell phone numbers, and email addresses if they have them.
“It is critically important that we be able to get in touch with our parents immediately in emergencies or with other important school information,†Superintendent Abelardo Saavedra said. “With our new technology we can provide vital information directly to parents in minutes, but only if we have the correct contact information. We’re urging our parents to update their contact information with their schools as quickly as possible so that if we have an emergency and when we have important information to share, we can call them with those messages and reach everyone.â€
HISD schools will be staffed today and all next week leading up to the first day of school August 27. Parents are urged to update their contact information with school officials by calling or visiting the school during business hours.
HISD is Texas’ largest school district, with about 203,000 students and 300 schools spread over 300 square miles of the city. School district officials are watching the approach of Hurricane Dean closely and preparing to mobilize school repair crews should they be needed in the days leading up to the start of school.
(For more information, contact the HISD Press Office at 713-556-6393)
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