TAMPA — Hillsborough County teachers and staff will soon have a faster way to call for help or trigger campus lockdowns in an active shooter situation.

Starting in August, the school district will provide about 27,000 district employees with hand-sized transponder ID badges which, when pressed repeatedly, send an emergency message to school resource officers and administrators.

The cost of the "CrisisAlert'' system this year is roughly $7.6-million, school officials said at a Tuesday news conference. It will be paid for from money set aside by state lawmakers following the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida.

"This system empowers every teacher and every staff member to call for help," superintendent Jeff Eakins said. "It also ensures every student and staff member is aware of an emergency anywhere on campus."

The program is run by the Georgia-based security company CENTEGIX. All teachers and staff in the district will receive training. It's expected to be rolled out district-wide a few weeks after the start of school in August.

Here's how it works: Read More.

 

The district has purchased cutting edge technology that will allow teachers and administrators to lock down their campuses faster than in recent years. 

In the next few weeks, crews will begin installing the Centegix Crisis Alert System, which will enable staffers to notify students and faculty of an emergency on campus, regardless of where they are. 

"This system empowers every teachers and every staff member to call for help in an emergency," said Superintendent Jeff Eakins. 

The new system requires teachers to carry a small ID badge that's about the size of a credit card. That badge has a button that, once pressed, would issue verbal commands and set off flashing lights, alerting the campus that the building is on lockdown. Read More.

TAMPA, FL — The Hillsborough County School District unveiled a new high-tech security system Tuesday that will make it easier and faster for teachers and staff to call for help in an emergency.

The new CENTEGIX CrisisAlert system will also ensure that every student and staff member is notified of an emergency no matter where they are on campus, including classrooms, hallways, the cafeteria, athletic fields or in the parking lot.

Superintendent Jeff Eakins and school board members, along with representatives from the district's two employee union groups – the Hillsborough Classroom Teachers Association and the Hillsborough School Employees Federation – and a representative from the PTA were on hand for the introduction of the new notification system at Franklin Boys Preparatory Academy, 3915 21st Avenue, Tampa.

In the spring, the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Commission issued its findings following the mass shooting Feb. 14, 2018, at the Parkland high school. Among other recommendations, the commission emphasized the need for systems to alert students, staff and teachers in an emergency. Read More.

Hillsborough County schools hope to speed up response time when there is a medical emergency, fight, or something more serious like an active shooter, weather event or bomb threat.
The district was awarded $7.6 million from the state's school hardening fund to pay for the program. Centegix is the company behind the security product. Read More.

Hillsborough Schools joins a growing list of notable districts implementing the cutting-edge CENTEGIX CrisisAlert system, including other national Top-20 districts. The system uses ID badges that can immediately trigger a school-wide lockdown with audio and visual notifications, and provide first responders with the location the alert was triggered.

Media representatives will be shown a live demonstration of what a teacher-initiated classroom lockdown would look like in the event of an emergency. School district leaders, as well as principals and students will be available for interviews. Read More.

Using a $7.6 million dollar grant the district is contracting Centegix, a company based in Atlanta, to install their crisis alert system on all campuses. Flashing strobes, a prerecorded message, and screens taken over with instructions will let teachers and students know what to do in a medical emergency, when students fight, or any other urgent need. In cases like school shootings, the campus can go on emergency lockdown. Read More.