Better Communication Critical For All

We are in a day and age where general knowledge is relayed daily via social media, and sometimes no where else. We receive important information via text message instead of phone calls, emails instead of in-person communications. Sometimes we hear the news from our neighbors, or our children, and it may be circumstantial at best.

For the most part, this is all fine and dandy. It’s become the norm. But when it comes to major items of importance, we need to take into consideration what the item of information is and how the distribution of that information is being handled.

This week I’ve been approached by several parents who are upset with the school and how dissemination of information has been handled of late. When I heard their complaints, I agreed wholeheartedly. However, I also understand how difficult getting information out can be.

Last week, when we were in the midst of the coldest temperatures of the year, the Elementary and Middle School had broken pipes, as well as no heat in portions of the building. I personally was told this news by my sophomore son. I ventured to Facebook to see if anyone could confirm or deny the issues, and it was confirmed by an employee of the school. Several parents told me they were unaware of the issues at the school and wouldn’t have sent their child to school had they known of the lack of heat.

On Friday, February 12 when Governor Gianforte signed his two new directives, one of which being that the county now has power to decide on mask mandates, the students at Whitehall were no longer required to wear their masks. I wish this decision would have been communicated to myself, as a parent, with a bit of a heads-up. Maybe an email stating the change would happen at the beginning of this week, instead of immediately. While most of my family has already suffered through COVID-19 and luckily not had too tough of a time with it, I know many parents who were distressed at this immediate decision. We live in a bedroom community where many grandparents take care of their school aged grandchildren after school - these caregivers deserved to know that they could possibly now be exposed. I myself suffer from an auto-immune disorder; many others in our community do as well. I feel like a little FYI email, social media post, note home with the student - anything - would have been more appreciated than our kids coming home and relaying this news to us.

We can come up with stronger ways of getting the word out. The Ledger is more than happy to post these types of notices on our social media outlets, but this will only help those who use that form of communication.

When it comes to the really important stuff, let’s work to figure out the best ways to get the most information out to majority of the people.