By Tracy Jan, Globe Staff | August 25, 2005
Out with scrolling words at the bottom of television screens and form letters crumpled at the bottom of backpacks. The next time Boston public school principals need to notify parents of an emergency, they'll pick up a phone, record a message, and in relatively short order, thousands of parents will be called on their home, work, and cellphones.
That means spreading the word faster if students are held hostage, involved in a bus accident, or even if one is missing from school, officials said yesterday.
Mayor Thomas M. Menino's office announced yesterday that Boston public schools will start using the automated system -- computer software combined with phone lines and the Internet -- this fall to more easily connect with parents.
The school system has received a nearly $250,000 federal grant from the Mayor's Office of Homeland Security to improve its communication system in case of terrorist attacks, said Carlo Boccia, the director of Homeland Security for the Boston metro region.