Ohio School Board Assoc Endorses Emergency Messaging System For Notifying Staff and Parents

The Ohio School Boards Association announced today its endorsement of Leader Alert, a health and safety alerting product, for the more than 700 Ohio public school districts that comprise its membership.

Leader Alert, the creation of Leader Technologies of Columbus, Ohio, makes it possible for a school to quickly and simultaneously alert thousands of parents and staff by telephone, texting, and email in case of emergencies ranging from lurking predators to snow days.

According to OSBA Deputy Executive Director Rob Delane: “Unfortunate events happening across the country have made the need to send out emergency update alerts almost a necessity. Schools need an easy and effective way to notify parents and staff members about incidents that may arise during the school year.”

Delane noted that OSBA study and testing pinpointed three key reasons for their choice of Leader Alert. “One, it was easy to use. Two, schools can use it with their current technologies, and three, it can effectively notify large numbers of individuals almost simultaneously.”

Delane stressed the benefits that the endorsement provides for member schools. “School boards count on OSBA to do the appropriate research before lending its name to a particular product or service. OSBA’s research indicates that Leader Alert is superior to other alerting systems and cost effective for school districts.”

As Delane pointed out: “The OSBA is very selective about its endorsements and will not endorse a product or service unless it meets certain criteria.” He called Leader Alert “reliable and effective,” adding “we also see a significant benefit for use in our disaster planning efforts.”

Leader’s alerting and audio conferencing services were used extensively by the Louisiana Governor’s Office in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, after many of the state’s other communications systems had failed. Leader Alert has diverse applications ranging from terrorist attack simulations to early storm warnings to boat owners, and it is currently in use as a health and safety alerting tool on school and college campuses across the United States.