CHERRY TWP — The Moniteau School District soon will have a fast way to communicate with the parents and guardians of the district’s 1,400 students.

Superintendent George Svolos said Blackboard Connect will be installed in the coming month. The district will use this notification system to contact parents and guardians about emergency situations and to provide information about other important school situations.

He said messages will be delivered by telephone, text and e-mail in minutes.

“We couldn’t do it manually in a timely manner. We could do it, but it would take hours,” Svolos said. “It’s a good way to communicate things.”

The school board Monday night approved the system with the cost not to exceed $2,100 for the remainder of the school year.

Svolos said the system also can convey attendance information.

“It will notify you if your son or daughter is not in school today,” he said. “It’s information that we feel is relevant to get to the parents.”

“It’s an aggressive timeline,” Svolos said about the installation. “We will also be doing some testing once it’s up and running.”

During the coming month, the district will request up-to-date phone numbers and e-mail addresses of parents and guardians.

“We’ll send something home, and we’ll have something on our website,” Svolos said.

Svolos commended the board’s support for the system.

“I’m very excited about having it. It’s a very useful tool,” he said. “It’s another layer in our security program. It allows us to put out information if we need to.”