Richland School District Two test crisis system

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS) - Richland Two school officials tested its new safety system that would be used in schools across the district.

The one-million-dollar investment was put to the test on March 7 during a demonstration for faculty and staff.

Richland School District Two will be the first district in the state of South Carolina to have the new safety measure ‘Crisis Alert System’ implemented into schools.

School officials are looking to cut down on response time for emergencies with the new Crisis Alert System.

The system comes with badges for all staff members throughout the district.

Eight clicks of the badge’s button will place the school on lockdown and law enforcement will be alerted.

“The faster we can lock the school down, the faster we get the information our SRO on campus the faster we can respond and neutralize a threat that’s there,” said Richland County Sheriff Leon Lot.

With three clicks of the badge’s button, staff can get help for a more minor crisis like a health emergency.

“So if I have a medical issue, I just hit the button you’ll see what happens next and the administration will respond to it and then they would have to clear it,” said Chief Officer for Communications Greg Turchetta.

The badge also gives the name and specific location of the person who pressed it.

The location will show up on an app and once the emergency is handled crisis responders can clear it through the app.

“It’s an extra layer of security. It makes me feel that we’re taking an extra step to make sure that our students, staff, and any visitors to our building are secure,” said Communications Director Ishmael Tate.

Richland Two school officials believe they’re setting the standard for school safety throughout the state, being the first school district in South Carolina to implement this new system.

Alysse Daniels with Centegix, the Georgia-based company behind the Crisis Alert Badge, says so far the alert system has been installed in thousands of schools across 30 different states.

And has received around 80 thousand alerts throughout those states.

“We actually are used 97 percent of the time for medical emergencies, unauthorized visitors fights, and of course those full lockdowns when you need to notify everyone instantly,” said Alysse Daniels, Senior Regional Vice President, Centegix.

The district is looking to launch the new system in the next three weeks.

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