United South Central schools now have a new way to notify parents and community members of school cancellations.

The district has begun subscribing to SchoolConnects Automated Notification Service and has recently sent out a test message.

The service allows Superintendent Jerry Jensen to record a voice message that he can then send to all the phone numbers kept in the school’s database.

“It’s really a safety thing,” Jensen said.

He said it will be most useful when school is canceled in the middle of the day, because many parents who work aren’t aware of the closings. With the new system a parent could be called at work and played the previously recorded voice message.

Currently the school is only using the new system for voice messages but e-mail or text messages may be used in the future. Jensen said he’d like to get the voice message notifications working before expanding.

Parents who would like to add their number to the database are encouraged to contact the school. There can be up to three numbers for each student, meaning the voice message would call a home, work or cell phone.