COLQUITT COUNTY, Ga. — A push to enhance student safety. Colquitt County Schools is taking action to make sure their students stay safe while at school.
To help, the county's board of education recently purchased a crisis alert system.
The school board says the system will cover all the schools in county. Here's how it works, a device will be given to all faculty. In an emergency situation, faculty will press a button on the device, which will then alert school officials to respond.
A school lockdown will happen if pressed three times, alerting first responders of the exact location of the incident. First responders say this will help them get to the scene of an incident faster.
"One of my first thoughts about reading about the alert system was how important it is as far as communication and location of the incident. It seems like this alert system pinpoints what's going on and where it's actually happening which is good," said Fire Chief Jeff Thibodeau.
The state is giving the school system a $30,000 per school grant to help with the installation costs.
The crisis alert system is expected to be fully installed and running at the end of this year.
Colquitt County's Superintendent James Howell commented on the new school safety system saying in part:
"The Crisis Alert System is a crisis management platform that allows anyone to request assistance from anywhere in the school instantly. I believe this system will make us safer in our schools and offices."
