CEDAR CITY, Utah — The Utah State Board of Education is putting the final touches on a plan giving access to a panic button to every teacher in every school. But there's some confusion about what technology will be used.
"It's a technology that's been coming for a long time," said Shauna Lund with the Iron County School District.
The button is basically the same kind that is worn around the neck by the elderly to alert first responders.
"So what happens when you hit that button, first of all, you want two simultaneous things to happen. You want everybody in the school to be notified," explained David Rogers, Chief Marketing Officer, Raptor Technologies.
And the other action is to notify emergency services. There is also a button to press for lesser emergencies, like a sick child that only needs to alert the school nurse.
While some school district personnel have yet to familiarize themselves with the technology, the Iron County School District has already been in training with the alert system.
"We have already implemented one that works really closely with tools that we already had in the classroom," said Lund. "We already have lanyards around our necks and all kinds of things around our necks."
There is some confusion as to when schools must have the alert system fully implemented. State law says it needs to be in place by July. However, a spokesperson with the Washington County School District said they weren’t in a hurry and believe they have until 2032 to implement the system.
Lund says an announcement Tuesday by the State Board of Education presents another dilemma. The state has approved a device from Raptor Technologies that is different than what's being used in Iron County, and will provide some funding as well.
"Because we are well into the process, we're going to have to weigh those pros and cons of, do we want another tool to implement into the classrooms with some of that state funding? Or is the possibility of getting some state funding towards the tool that we have chosen and already started working on?" she said.
Regardless of the technology or deadlines, the state insists schools need to be ready.
