Recent incidents lead to school monitoring plan

Chief David O’Brien told Historic City News this morning that the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office may have a solution, in cooperation with the School District that would allow the community at large to monitor school campuses with just a click of a mouse.

School District Officials and the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office Command Staff met this week to exchange ideas for posting the status of each school campus in a format that could be accessed by the public.

“We recognized that parents and the community were receiving confusing information during a recent incident involving a threat to a local high school,” O’Brien told reporters. “Rumors and erroneous information were being passed around through twitter and facebook websites, adding to the confusion.”

O’Brien said the meeting was to brainstorm ideas aimed at resolving those issues.

“We are looking at adopting a uniform system that will disseminate information through use of the Internet,” O’Brien said. “Any device with internet capability, laptop, smart phone or I-pad, can be the tool used by parents, school administrations and law enforcement personnel for immediate information or to check the status of any school campus.”

The goal, according to those attending the meeting, is to make it easier and far less stressful for concerned folks to know what is happening on any school campus during an emergency or threatening situation.

Planning sessions are to be scheduled; once a plan is adopted, a public education program will be launched to explain how to access the service.