As parents in Newtown, CT, and across the nation cope with Friday's horrific shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, Patch asked DeKalb County School Spokesman Jeff Dickerson how the system would notify its parents should the unthinkable ever happen here:
"We would notify the parents of the school where the incident occurred, using any and all means available to us. These include by email and by phone. You can't simply just use one method; not everyone has an email or a Twitter account, and not everyone has one or more phones.
"Naturally we would immediately shut down the school.
"On the scene itself, we'd also use every means necessary to inform the public. A tragedy of the magnitude of Friday's incident, we'd have public information staff, security personnel, and top school officials present.
"What we've seen today in Connecticut is simply horrific."