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New Listserv To Keep Hillsborough Parents Informed

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By MARILYN BROWN | The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 10, 2008

TAMPA - Hillsborough parents will soon be able to sign up for a new school district e-mail listserv.

The e-mails will bring news of good things happening in schools, but can be used for a variety of information, said David Steele, the district's chief information and technology officer.

A start date has not yet been set, but parents will be able to sign up on the district website (www.sdhc.k12.fl.us/), Steele said. They will be able to unsubscribe if they don't want to continue the service.

"The main idea is to get out good information about good things that happen in schools," he said. Emergency information will still come from the Parent Link emergency phone system.

The district is building the listserv, starting with contacting about 18,000 families already on individual school listservs to see if they are interested in the district e-mails.

Steele did not know how many Hillsborough families have computers because the district has not tried to compile that information.

"I see this as a way to save a ton of paper," school board chairwoman Jennifer Faliero said Monday.

"People just aren't getting the information they need… We want parents to see what a great school district they have."

Many families will be ale to receive the listserv information with their cell phones, Faliero said.

The district is encouraging schools to improve their individual websites with a "website of the month" contest, Steele said. Last week Deer Park Elementary and Mulrennan Middle School won the first awards. A high school winner will be named this week. The prize is a sophisticated projector with a camera that projects a variety of materials.

Also in planning is a sort of local YouTube project that will encourage schools to post clips of events to the district website, Steele said.

Reporter Marilyn Brown can be reached at (813) 259-8069.

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