Williamsville District launches E-Alert program

Parents can now know instantly if there is a power outage at a school, or if district buildings have closed for bad weather, or any other emergencies involving the Williamsville School District.

On Friday the district launched E-Alert on its Web site, www.willamsvillek12.org, which allows parents, students, faculty/ staff and community members to subscribe to the alert program.

Users choose to receive e-mails and/or cell phone text messages about school closings or other emergency situations occurring in the district or at a particular school.

The new emergency notification system is an opt-in service. People will click on the Emergency Alerts icon on the district's homepage and will be linked to a signup page. Subscribers will be able to select "District Emergency/ Closing Information" to receive information about districtwide closings, and may select individual schools that are of interest to them to receive notice of an emergency situation affecting only those particular schools.

A "no reply" message will be sent via e-mail, text message, or both depending on the options selected by the subscriber. Subscribers may change their information or opt out of e-Alerts at any time.

"The district has been exploring options for an emergency messaging system for about a year," said Rita Wolff, director of communications. "This product allows people to select the information connection that best meets their lifestyle, whether it be text messaging or e-mail. It is an additional vehicle that the district will use to get information out to the public about weather-related closings or emergency situations affecting our schools."

The system is a provided by School World, a Web site management company based in Rochester.