Parents Upset with D51 Lack of Communication-[POLL]

Parents have complained to local media after they were not notified of the brief lock down at their children's schools.

According to a Mesa County Sheriff's Office someone called 911 to report a man with a gun outside of the City Market in Clifton on Wednesday, in response they locked down the two nearest schools-Central High & Grand Mesa Middle.

Frustrated parents then reached out to KKCO saying they were never notified about the lock down.

The KKCO website quotes Tim Leon, District 51 Director of Safety, Security and Transportation, as saying,

Until the district introduces a text-alert system, parents are encouraged to utilize text alerts from the City of Grand Junction and Mesa County.

 

Christy McGee, Mesa County School District 51's Public Information Officer says,

Schools and the district attempt to communicate with parents as soon as possible about goings on, especially during emergency situations. During any emergency situation, however, the first and foremost responsibility of school staff is maintaining a safe environment for students. Keeping that mind, the district is looking at ways to improve and speed up communications to parents. The community alerts is one way parents can sign up to receive notifications about schools. The most commonly used communication tool in District 51 is ParentBridge and parents can sign up for that even without having access to a home computer – see your school’s office to find out more about how. The district is also looking into text messaging or other alert notification systems that are specific to D51 and its parents. District 51 recognizes that communication is a challenge and is working to improve to meet the needs of parents in the Grand Valley.

One of our listeners Doreena Hutchinson also suggested sign up for Parent Bridge: