Used to be when a teacher wanted to communicate with a parent, she sent a note home with the child. Nowadays, schools sometimes need to distribute vital information instantly. And now Bay County school officials say they have a computerized system that answers that need.

During the 2006 legislative session Florida lawmakers approved a pilot project to implement mass notification systems in several public school districts in the state.
Bay County schools was one of the few chosen to participate in the program. The state even provided a grant to pay for the system.

Michael Arnim of TechRadium says training on the new system has begun this week.

"We're here to train administrators to be able to utilize IRIS, which stands for Immediate Response Information System. This system can notify parents and faculty of any emergencies or any logistical information that needs to get out immediately."

I-R-I-S is operated by TechRadium incorporated out of Texas. The Florida Department of Education chose the company because of its success rate.

“We have not had a single complaint all the parents love being interconnected into IRIS”
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When the Virginia Tech shooting tragedy happened back in April, many students complained they weren't notified of the danger, Mike Jones, safety and security manager for the local school system says they don’t want that to happen here.

"In the event of a crisis situation we can do mass notification in just a matter of minutes and let the parents know what's going on at their campus so they don't have to leave work and don't have to call the school to find out what's going on. “We can let them know by cell phone, work phone, home phone, pager and e-mail."

Ellie Spivey is the Principal of Patronis Elementary School at Panama City Beach.

“I think it is radical, but I think in the days we live in now it is extremely important and I think it's going to give our parents a sense of security.

"This system will only be as good as the information we put into it." Security Manager Mike Jones wants to be sure parents do their part to make the system work.
“Parents update your records and emergency information for your students so it is accurate and we can contact you in a timely manner.”

Initially school officials say they'll only use iris in the event of an emergency. But in the future they may expand it to send out individual messages to parents and school employees, like when report cards are due to come out or when your child is in detention.