Safeguarding Our Schools: The Afternoon Dismissal Routine Made More Secure With School Dismissal Management System

CROMWELL, Conn., March 5, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- In the wake of the recent elementary school tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut, the need for improved safeguards at our nation's schools has been brought to the forefront. A routine procedure like the afternoon school dismissal process is no exception. Miscommunication, including school pickup and bus assignment mishaps, car line confusion, and a series of other unforeseen events, can leave students vulnerable.

School Dismissal Manager (http://www.schooldismissalmanager.com), an online communication tool for parents, helps to eliminate these potential security gaps by allowing parents to securely log in and let school officials know if and when there is a change to their child's normal dismissal routine.

"We adopted School Dismissal Manager in the New Canaan school district three years ago and it has transformed our dismissal process," stated Roy Walder, transportation director for the New Canaan Public School district in New Canaan, CT. "School Dismissal Manager has become an indispensable tool for us; I dare say there would be a mutiny within our staff if we ever stopped using it."

First introduced in 2011, School Dismissal Manager replaces the inefficient offline process of handwritten notes and parental phone calls to the main office. Unfortunately, this ill-equipped and often haphazard method can be extremely difficult for school officials who are trying to handle the ever-changing scenarios that occur throughout the school day. Lost or forged notes, as well as forgotten phone calls, are no longer worrisome issues for school officials.

The School Dismissal Manager system, which is actively being used by over 25,000 parents in school districts across the Northeast, has flawlessly handled 120,000 dismissal plan changes for all subscribed schools — never experiencing a mishap. This successfully translates to having each student accounted for during every dismissal change. It is anticipated that the School Dismissal Manager system will double the amount of dismissal changes it manages as newly enlisted schools begin to implement the program.

School Dismissal Manager enables school officials to reach parents via email or text message, allowing for instantaneous email or text alerts in the event of an emergency, delay, closing, illness, etc. Parents opt-in to receive the messages.

Additionally, School Dismissal Manager also offers innovative options, including a school bus capacity management feature that checks and monitors bus capacity throughout the school day, as well as a playdate scheduling feature that identifies whom the child has a playdate with, generating a confirmation email that is sent to the playdate's parent. All data is integrated in real-time into the school's Daily Dismissal Report.

"School Dismissal Manager has significantly improved the organization and safety of our daily dismissal process," stated Dave Lustberg, transportation coordinator for the Weston Public School district in Weston, CT. "I would urge other districts to give School Dismissal Manager strong consideration."

For more information, interviews or to schedule a School Dismissal Manager demonstration, please call Debbie Koke at (914) 536-7557 or send an email to [email protected]  

You may also view an online School Dismissal Manager demonstration video at (http://bit.ly/SDMDemo). This animated online video is approximately two minutes in length.

About School Dismissal Manager

School Dismissal Manager is an online communication vehicle for parents, which enables them to securely log in and let school administrators know when there is a change to their child's normal dismissal routine. The system is designed to replace the "hit and miss" offline process of lost notes and/or forgotten phone calls. School Dismissal Manager strives to streamline the school dismissal process with a host of key offerings, including a school bus capacity manager and a playdate feature.

SOURCE School Dismissal Manager