Thousands of School District of Lancaster parents are likely to get a message this morning on their cell phones, home phones or work telephones.

But there's nothing to worry about. In fact, the message heralds the implementation of a new system designed to improve communication and allay parents' fears about what's happening at their children's schools.

SDL is testing AlertNow, an automated telephone contact system it hopes to implement districtwide in the coming weeks.

The system can be used to notify every district parent or guardian within minutes of an emergency that requires students to be evacuated from their schools or sent home.

It also can be used to send out messages about an early dismissal because of inclement weather or other major schedule changes.

If only one school is affected by a problem — say a broken water pipe that forces an evacuation — AlertNow will contact parents of that school only.

The system also automatically translates messages into up to 12 languages, based on the language spoken at each child's home.

Several other Lancaster County school districts have implemented AlertNow or similar systems to improve communications.

SDL is paying $3 per student — about $36,000 — this year for AlertNow with a grant from the federal Safe Schools Healthy Students program, district spokeswoman Kelly Burkholder said.

Parents were notified of today's test in a letter sent home in the past week.

District officials culled the phone numbers for the test from school records, so parents who don't receive a call today should contact their child's school to make sure a valid phone number is on file.

"The successful delivery of information is dependent on accurate contact information," Burkholder said. "If children move, parents should contact the district with the new information."

E-mail: bwallace@lnpnews.com