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Miami-Dade, FL - The Miami-Dade County School Board is evaluating the feasibility of equipping staff with wearable panic buttons in a move to bolster school safety measures.
Board member Mary Blanco has proposed that Superintendent Jose L. Dotres explore the implementation of wearable panic buttons for school personnel, aiming to enhance the existing mobile alert system.
The proposal suggests integrating the panic button into staff ID badges worn on lanyards.
Currently, the district utilizes a phone-based alert system.
This discussion is particularly timely as it precedes the seventh anniversary of the tragic shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland on February 14th, 2018.
In response to that event, Florida enacted legislation approximately four years ago mandating that public schools install silent panic alarm systems directly linked to law enforcement agencies.
The law, known as Alyssa's Law, honors Alyssa Alhadeff, a 14-year-old freshman who was among the victims of the Parkland shooting.
Her mother, Lori Alhadeff, who now serves as a Broward County School Board member, founded the nonprofit organization Make Our Schools Safe.
The organization advocates for the nationwide adoption of Alyssa's Law to improve emergency response times in schools.
If the proposal is approved, Superintendent Dotres is expected to report back to the school board on March 12th with findings on the feasibility and potential implementation strategies for the wearable panic buttons.