Parent notification system may ease communication
By Donna C. Gregory

The Chesterfield County School Board voted unanimously last week to purchase a new notification system called ParentLink that could make communicating with parents faster and easier.

"This communication tool allows the school division and individual schools to improve communications...through the use of instant messaging using the telephone and email," said Debra Marlow, the school system's director of community relations. "This allows us to notify all parents in case of emergency, and it would be used for attendance purposes on a daily basis. It [will] allow us to contact a few parents or thousands of parents."

The system will enable schools to make automated calls to alert parents if their child is absent from school. If a student reaches a certain number of absences, the system would automatically generate a letter that could be mailed to parents, informing them of their child's truancy.

The new system could also stimulate parental involvement in schools by providing updates to parents about upcoming events and other pertinent information.

Chesterfield County Public Schools will enter into a three-year agreement with Parlant Technology for the ParentLink system, which may cost up to $170,000 annually.

"ParentLink is the same system that Newport News uses, so it is a system our new superintendent is very familiar with," Marlow told board members.

New superintendent

The board voted unanimously to appoint Dr. Marcus J. Newsome as the school system's new superintendent.

Newsome replaces Billy K. Cannaday Jr., who became State Superintendent of Public Instruction in July.

Since 2003, Newsome has served as superintendent of Newport News Public Schools. He will continue with his duties there until his contract begins in Chesterfield on October 1. His contract will run through June 30, 2010.

"We believe we have found the ideal person to continue us in our efforts to prepare students for their immediate and extended futures," said School Board Chair Marshall W. Trammell Jr. "During the past 28 years, Dr. Newsome has established an exemplary record as a teacher, curriculum developer, principal, central office administrator and superintendent. You can see that Dr. Newsome possesses and models the high standards of our adopted core values: respect, responsibility, honesty and accountability."

Adult education

Citizen activists again appeared before the board last week to complain about alleged inefficiencies within the school system's adult education program.

"This issue is not dead," concerned citizen Brenda Stewart told board members.

Stewart and others claim management issues continue to be ignored even after the school system completed a full audit of the program earlier this year.

"We worked very hard to build this program," said Judy Stoneman, who teaches keyboarding and computer classes for the adult education program. "That program is being destroyed. We have to have somebody who knows how to run this program."

Trammell told Stoneman her concerns regarding poor management were being addressed.

"We will address any issues that came up publicly through our professional growth plan," assured Marlow after the meeting.