MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Memphis Shelby County Schools (MSCS) superintendent Dr. Marie Feagins said a software company that the district uses to send out its notifications to parents is responsible for the lack of communication during recent school threats.
The company Finalsite is clearing its name by sharing with ABC24 they can only do what they can with the information the district provides them.
Dr. Feagins and Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner, Jr. brought this information up during a press conference on Thursday.
During the press conference Dr. Feagins said Finalsite is responsible for more than 60,000 messages that did not go out to families. She continued by stating the district is working with the company to get the root cause of the issue.
This week MSCS parents have expressed concerns about communication coming from the state's largest school district.
Dr. Feagins outlines part of the safety measures they could implement to keep kids safe in a 15-minute Facebook live Thursday morning. She said those safety measures could include clear backpacks to elementary students after enduring back-to-back days of school threats.
"Quickly spread across five schools at first, then it went to seven, then it went to 12 and then it continued to go," Feagins said.
Feagins said she understands why parents are upset, however she believes part of the reason behind the lack of communication comes from the district using Finalsite to push out its notifications.
However, many MSCS families felt left in dark while trying to find out if their child was okay during those school threats. Dr. Feagins explained the problem was worse than she originally thought.
"We learned that more than 60,000 of those calls were undelivered. We learned another 80,000 text messages out of more than 130,000 family numbers that we had were also undelivered," she said.
ABC24 reached out to Finalsite in response to Dr. Feagins claims.
A representative with the company sent an email stating the notifications system was not the cause of the problem. They continued with stating that messages can only be received if the recipients selected have email addresses or text messages on file. They said that data is supposed to be given to them by the district.
Dr. Feagins said they are still working on how to get to the bottom of their mass communication dilemma whether it's their fault or if Finalsite is to blame.
"What I was lifting today is we've had conversations with the company to figure out if it's technical difficulties, if it's something an opportunity for the company to work on, is it human error on our end," Feagins.
Dr. Feagins said during her Facebook live she plans to provide more safety measure updates in next week's community huddle meeting.