Silent Alarms, Panic Buttons Could Be Required For Texas Schools

Schools in Texas could see increased required safety upgrades, including panic buttons.

In early November, the Texas Education Agency (TEA) released details on the proposed rule changes that also include mandatory locked doors and windows. The proposed changes come in light of the deadly school shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde.

Since the TEA release, a company that supplies silent alarm technology, Raptor Technologies, reached out to NBC5.

David Rogers, a Raptor Technologies spokesperson, said panic buttons and silent alarms allow law enforcement to get the information in real time, and respond effectively and efficiently.

“Panic alarms are an important layer to any overall security practice for any school district,” Rogers said. “When you provide that with other preventative measures – screening visitors, locking doors, deploying cameras – it will enable staff to quickly initiate a response to any school or district-wide emergency from any hardwire, cellular or wireless device.”

Several law enforcement officials also advocate for silent alarm technology.

“It is silent, so, you’ve got first responders coming to a campus to address a threat or a critical incident and the individual isn’t put in a situation where he or she doesn’t feel like they must expedite their actions before law enforcement intervenes,” Hutto Police Chief Jeffrey Yarbrough said.

Yarbrough said integrated silent alarm systems and regular training with the systems make it easier to first responders in an emergency situation.

“Officers and first responders need to know what the context is and what is going on,” Yarbrough said.
“When that information is provided to dispatch, they know where to send people.”

Raptor makes a silent alarm system that can be used on phones and iPads by teachers, staff and administrators.

“Part of our technology, it opens an opportunity to allow us to start accounting for everybody on the campus,” Rogers said. “So, you are available to account for all the visitors, volunteers, campus staff, students – so you know who is there and who is not.”

Rogers added that the technology creates a dashboard for an incident commander.

“When first responders come on scene, they are going to take over and they are going to want all that information,” Rogers said. “They can look at [the dashboard] and see who is all accounted for, where the alert was initiated, if there’s injuries – where those injuries are on the campus. It gives them a whole wealth of information.”

Grants are available for districts to help with the costs of the systems, even before they are mandatory.

There is a meeting for public comment about the proposed changes on Dec. 12.