This has been a long and stormy winter. Many schools used up their five scheduled Calamity Days early in the winter, and needed to make up days in school to meet state required school year length.

In most areas, the decision on how and when to make up these days is made by the Superintendent, or board; and always generates controversy…

“We already scheduled our vacation for the the start of summer vacation…”

“We have that three day weekend already booked…”

In Georgetown, OH, the Superintendent used the power of One Call Now and the force of democracy to determine the outcome.

He sent a One Call Now Parent Notification to every parent, and asked them to vote for their calendar choice. Voila! 500 votes  (almost 70% of the families voted, besting the Fall election turnout!) and a clear cut decision.

Here’s the news story as they reported it…

“Superintendent Dunn presented the 2009-2010 school calender for the board’s approval. Following last month’s board meeting Dunn sent a One Call Now announcement to everyone in the district to ask them to go to the school website and vote on when they would prefer make up days to be scheduled. Dunn said the response was overwhelmingly positive and the poll received 500 responses with the majority of residents voting to schedule the calamity make up days during spring break of 2010 instead of the end of the school year. Dunn also said several teachers told him they would much rather give up their spring break then teach at the end of the year when students’ attentions would be elsewhere.”

One Call Now improves the connections between schools and parents, improving their involvement and building a stronger sense of community.

When Messages Matter- we deliver; and parents respond!