State’s panic button alert system awarded top government solutions award

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Arkansas became the first state in the nation to require all public schools to install a classroom panic button alert system under the 2015 School Safety Act. The system was recognized in St. Louis Tuesday by the Southern Legislative Conference with its STAR Award as one of the top government solution projects. The Arkansas project was selected over initiatives from two other states and Arkansas, with Tennessee’s Promise scholarship program also recognized as a STAR recipient.

State Representative Scott Baltz of Pocahontas, whose district includes a portion of Baxter County and was lead sponsor of the bill leading to the law providing for the alert system, was in St. Louis for the SLC’s annual conference. After receiving word of the STAR award, he told KTLO, Classic Hits and The Boot news the panic button alert system was among five finalists for the award. The finalists included a second project from Arkansas using a grid to track jobs and housing for former inmates, as well as a feral hogs initiative from Oklahoma and college and daycare innovations from Tennessee.

The Southern Legislative Conference fosters intergovernmental cooperation among its 15 member states. Through its STAR award, the SLC recognizes creative, impactful, transferable and effective state government solutions. Innovative program submissions are accepted from a wide array of state agencies, departments and institutions operating within the executive, legislative and judicial governmental branches.

Following an initial review process, five finalists are invited to present their program to the STAR judges panel – comprising of state legislators, legislative staff and policy experts – who select two programs as models of efficiency and effectiveness in state governments in the southern region.

Arkansas’ award winner recognizes the state’s effort to keep teachers better connected and make schools safer. The smartphone-based application gives users five emergency options to trigger a call to 911 and a notification to school administrators linked to the school’s profile. The system is provided by Rave Mobile Safety.

Districts can essentially geocode their campuses to link with online maps, so that when an alert is triggered from a smartphone within that area, the location can be instantly communicated to 911 and made accessible to first responders.

At the time of the bill’s passage, Baltz, who is an EMT, said he spent 30 years in emergency services. He said a lot of times when emergency personnel respond to a school, they are unclear where they need to go.

The system is designed for law enforcement and other first responders to have access to maps and floor plans out in the field on their laptops, tablets or smartphones. Notes in the profile include the location of defibrillators and other emergency devices.

The program’s first year costs were $850,000 paid for by the Arkansas Department of Education. Representative Baltz said ongoing annual fees are approximately $350,000.

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