South Carolina considers mobile panic button system for schools to increase safety

A South Carolina bill – patterned after Alyssa’s Law in honor of Alyssa Alhadeff, who died in a Florida high school shooting in 2018 – may soon mandate mobile panic alert systems throughout the state’s public schools.

“I texted Alyssa. I told her to run and hide, that help was on the way,” said Alyssa’s mom, Lori, in a March 18 Senate subcommittee meeting as reported by Hearst’s WYFF Greenville.

“But on that day, help did not come quickly enough. She wasn’t alerted fast enough, and students didn’t go into their safety protocols quickly enough. Alyssa and 17 others died that day. That is why the principle of this bill is so simple. Time equals life.”

After Lori’s testimony, House Bill 3258 “passed the Senate’s education subcommittee with ease,” according to the news station.

“If passed as is, it would allow each teacher to alert the school in case of an emergency and call for help with just the push of a button.”

‘A nationwide drive for improved school safety procedures’

Some districts have already explored these systems and found the results beneficial, journalists wrote.

“Teachers, school staff, and students told our crews last year that the Raptor security system made communication within the school and with law enforcement faster and the school feels safer,” explained the news outlet of Greenville County Schools.

Other states that have already passed a version of Alyssa’s Law include New Jersey, Florida, Texas, Tennessee, Oklahoma and Georgia, according to the Avigilon security company’s blog.

“This growing momentum signifies a nationwide drive for improved school safety procedures and the implementation of real-time emergency alert systems,” the company noted, adding more states such as Utah, Oregon, Ohio and Pennsylvania are considering similar legislation.

Before the bill can pass in South Carolina, lawmakers must resolve the question of paying for all these measures.

“While some (schools) can rely on their local tax base, others would need help funding the project,” WYFF reported. “That’s something the Senate and House would have to agree on before it goes to the governor’s desk.”

As previously reported by The Lion, both private and charter institutions as well as public schools have ramped up security procedures in response to recent school shootings.

“Safety and security has certainly become more at the forefront of our thinking as school leaders than it was when I started 20-plus years ago,” said Dr. Rob Brown, head of school at the K-12 private Christian school First Presbyterian Academy (FPA).

“It’s important for us to steward our resources well, to reflect carefully when situations occur, so we can keep our students as safe as possible.”