Hillman Community Schools’ New Paging and Intercom System
After a safety and security team brought concerns to the school board over Hillman Community Schools’ paging system and its difficulties regarding communication, the school board allocated money from the general fund to install a new system.
With the new paging and intercom system, every school in each building, despite that room’s level of volume, can now be contacted much more conveniently.
“Our system was old and outdated, and we purchased new technology last year with our new phone system, and with us being separated in two different locations with our elementary in town and our high school up here, we needed to increase communication between both buildings too,” said Hillman Community Schools principal Kayla Nichols.
The old system had been in place since the school was built in 2001. Hillman Community Schools knew it was time for an upgrade.
“We knew that we needed to condense that into one piece of technology so that it was very quick to pick up a phone and reach somebody in case of emergency, and that was kind of our move towards this new technology,” said Nichols.
With this system now in place, Hillman will focus on making sure their technology is up to date, or replace it before it is no longer operational.
“You start looking into, ‘well, this is something crucial, something that we need, not just for our day–to–day, but for emergencies,’ so it’s not really worth it for us to risk anything,” said IT Director at Hillman Community Schools, Michael Probert. “We need to get it replaced as soon as possible.”
Campus safety is also one of the most important elements of adding this new technology.
“We’ve put a lot of money into safety and security this year and the school board has really been beneficial to that with their support,” said Nichols.
The new system allows for the utmost efficiency when it comes to communication between the school and its students, and Hillman is appreciative of the support they, along with the community, have offered.
