The Clarke County School District already uses the same emergency alert system widely credited with saving lives during the Apalachee High School shooting earlier this month.
Centegix is a badge worn by all school personnel with a button to press during emergencies. Press three times, and the local school safety team is alerted to an incident like a fight or a medical emergency. Press rapidly multiple times, and the school goes into automatic lockdown, triggering red strobe lights and an announcement, and all security officers and administrators receive a notification via mobile app.
“Of course, you only go into lockdown if there’s an intruder in the building or some other significant safety incident where students and staff need to take shelter for safety,” CCSD Director of Operations Garrick Askew told the Board of Education during a presentation last week.
Centegix also includes mobile app alerts for an administrative hold—in which no one is allowed to enter or leave the building—tornados, bomb threat or gas leak evacuations, and an “all clear.”
According to law enforcement officials, a 14-year-old Apalachee student left class the morning of Sept. 4 and went to the restroom to retrieve an AR-15 rifle his father had given him as a gift. The student, Colt Gray, then shot 13 teachers and classmates, killing four and injuring nine before being confronted by a school resource officer.
The system is aimed at reducing response times. “This technology is something that helps to mitigate loss of life, and it did [Sept. 4] in Apalachee High School,” Angie Alhadeff, founder of Make Our Schools Safe, told CNN.
In addition, CCSD installed 35 new cameras at local elementary schools and the HT Edwards complex last year, as well as new digital servers that allow for sharper pictures, Askew told the school board Sept. 12. “We’ve made a number of security upgrades in the past year and a half or so,” he said.
Law enforcement have access to ballistic shields at each school, Askew said, and the district has beefed up security, hiring four additional unarmed security guards and one new sworn police officer, bringing the total number to 14 of each. Two are assigned to each middle and high school, one is on the night watch, and three roam among schools throughout the county, Superintendent Robbie Hooker said.
Each year, school principals, front desk staff, nutrition managers and transportation leaders receive security training, Askew said. CCSD also collaborated with Athens-Clarke County on grid maps of school facilities to help emergency responders who aren’t familiar with those facilities to pinpoint locations within buildings. All shift commanders for the ACC Police Department and the Clarke County Sheriff’s Office have keys to CCSD buildings, Askew said.
As mandated by state law, CCSD will be conducting active shooter drills at all schools prior to Oct. 1.
Following the Apalachee shooting, two youths made what appeared to be threats against schools in both Clarke and Oconee counties. In both cases, authorities determined there was no actual danger, and the individuals were taken into custody by the Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice. Gray, on the other hand, is being tried as an adult on murder charges, and his father Colin faces felony charges as well.
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