Rising Sun high school faces threat

Thursday night, a rumor on twitter went around that Rising Sun High School in Cecil County was threatened by a shooter on Friday Feb. 6. Law enforcement was notified by parents about the possibility and further investigations were commenced.

“Cop cars filled the parking lot and eight cops patrolled the school thought the entire day. We weren’t really sure what was going on at first and were later informed,” Rising Sun senior Austin Roberts said.

Parents were informed about the situation early on during the day and some started to call their children out in precaution.

“It was important that the law enforcement remained open with the school system, students, and parents,” public information officer Kelly Keeton said.

The school enacted Code Yellow for the duration of the day, which called for a heightened state of awareness. Authorities tried to track down the origin of the rumors through social media, where it was first brought to awareness, but all they could find were secondhand statements.

Nothing came of the scare and no actions were made to follow through with the threat.

Erica Kelble is a Multimedia Editor for The Patriot and jcpatriot.com.

New administrative system makes organization easier

Next year, JC will switch over to a new software called Veracross, and will get rid of other programs such as PowerSchool and SharePoint. According to Vice Principal of Student Affairs & Technology Brian Powell, this will make organization of student online information easier.

“Our school is organized into four departments: academics, enrollment, business, and institutional advancement, which is broken down into alumni, finance, and event planning,” Powell said. “Right now, each department is managed by different software.”

Because each department is managed differently, it can cause confusion and there is a risk for information error. “If a student wants to come to JC, we use Software Portal. Once they’re enrolled, their information is manually exported to some other format like PowerSchool. Once they’re an alum, their information is transferred from PowerSchool to a program called Razor’s Edge. There is a lot of data transferring,” Powell said. “The databases are disjointed.”

Powell wants to remove any possible chance of error when gathering data information for students. “We need the information to be accurate. There’s no room for error because this information affects the students’ rest of their lives,” he said. “We don’t want to send the information the wrong way.”

Many teachers use SharePoint, which is a website directly linked to their class course, and Veracross includes course websites as well. “Veracross has one set of log in information, whereas now you need to use SharePoint to get to each class,” he said. “Everything’s all in one place. Imagine using PowerSchool for courses as well.”

According to Powell, not every teacher is required to start using Veracross right away, but he wants them to begin adjusting to the program within the 2016-2017 school year. “It’s probably going to take a year to train everyone properly, and they could probably still use SharePoint. It’s based on teacher preference,” he said.

Veracross is going to be a benefit for everyone, according to Powell. “We’re trying to shift to adapting to family and student needs especially,” he said. “Parents can see academic courses and assignments [for their children].”

Nicole Arrison is a Video Editor for The Patriot and jcpatriot.com