Portland Superintendent Carole Smith adds security, orders dialer for Skyline School
By Nicole Dungca, The Oregonian
June 06, 2010, 6:24PM
In response to Kyron Horman's Friday disappearance from Skyline School, all K-8 schools within Portland Public Schools will start using automated dialer systems to notify parents when students are absent without preapproval, Superintendent Carole Smith announced Sunday.
She also said two additional school resource officers would be assigned to help monitor Skyline's security starting today.
Until now, Skyline School officials did not generally call home concerning absences, said Portland schools spokesman Matt Shelby.
"It's a really small school," Shelby said. "They know their students and usually they know the reason for the absence."
Personal calls for parental notification will be used until the automated system is in place at Skyline, which will likely take about a week, Smith said.
Currently, 37 out of 57 elementary and K-8 schools in the district use the dialing system, which is already in use at all of the district's middle and high schools.
Shelby said the automated dialer system was first primarily used for truancy, which typically is not a significant problem at elementary and K-8 schools.
During a briefing across the road from Skyline School, which is in hilly, unincorporated Multnomah County about 16 miles west of downtown