Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) are the largest public school system in the state of Maryland, as they frequently remind us. Currently at 210 schools, there are many unique school environments (neighborhoods, surrounding roads, etc) and risks for each of these physical campuses.
MCPS does have a pretty robust “Alert MCPS” opt-in system for parents and caretakers. It is easy to sign up for emergency alerts and to get them via text, e-mail or other communication platforms and to even get them in Spanish.
The issue isn’t the way MCPS delivers important information to parents. That system seems fairly robust, if parents do opt-in. The issue is how or what each MCPS school decides “is worthy” of being an alert or “Important Update” to send to parents.
One thing MCPS needs to consider is some kind of standard for what constitutes an alert. If something doesn’t reach that standard, no alert is needed. These kinds of communications just produce unnecessary initial stress to the reader / recipient and generally are a waste of time.
Under-communication is a serious error by a school system, because it usually is correlated with a system that is negligent and ignoring clear warning signs. See: Virginia Beach, VA (which is getting sued right now for a big figure). But so is over-communication. Not every little thing that occurs at a school campus needs to be highlighted and sent in an IMPORTANT UPDATE e-mail to parents that very day.
The following was sent to me by a parent of students at Earle B Wood Middle School. Does this kind of thing really need to be sent – or could it wait for a weekly recap or even a monthly newsletter format? Couldn’t it be sent as-needed to a few select classrooms – or have the teacher just address it later on to select parents?
Disclosure is good but there has got to be a more selective, intelligent way to determine what needs to go out “ASAP” as an IMPORTANT UPDATE header and what does not.
Related posts:
CM Albornoz Showcases Radical Maoist “Activist” Portrait in E-mail Post Bragging About Student-Created Pilot “APIDA” Course Within MCPS
Was It Truly a “Great School Year” Worth Celebrating for MCPS?
Despite Rain, Smears and Intolerant Rhetoric by Local Elected Officials, Hundreds Still Showed Up to Ask for Simple “Opt Out” Option at MCPS