Meade Co. Schools become first district in Kentucky to install new safety technology

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Saving time saves lives. That's the idea behind new technology staff members are wearing in Meade County Schools.

Meade County Schools is the first school district in Kentucky to install and roll out Centegix CrisisAlert. The district demonstrated how it works Tuesday afternoon.

The technology can trigger appropriate and necessary responses based off the situation in a matter of seconds.

All teachers and staff wear a non-descript badge, along with their district ID. On the badge is a button and based off the number of times it is pressed, can initiate two types of responses.

Crisis Alert Staff Alert Notificaion — Phone displays a staff alert notification sent to necessary staff, initiated by a CrisisAlert badge.

Three clicks initiates a staff alert. This signals an urgent situation that requires help, such as a medical emergency, fight, or an injury. This type of alert would send a notification to a phone to necessary personnel such as administrators, school resource officers and/or a nurse. When notified, staff are told the exact location based off where the alert was initiated, down to the room number, and who signaled the alert.

Eight or more clicks initiates a campus-wide emergency lockdown, and used in events like an active shooter. In addition to notifying administrators, this alert dispatches police immediately, and leads first responders to the exact location of where the threat is located. It also triggers red flashing lights, installed in all classroom hallways, common areas, and the building's exterior. The alert also takes over screens or monitors and displays a lockdown message as an alert plays over the PA system to notify everyone in the building.

Crisis Alert Campuswide Lockdown Alerts

"Instead of having one school resource officer who can respond to situations, who- they do great work, we just empowered 600 teammates to respond to everyday situations and worse case scenarios," said Meade County Schools Superintendent Mark Martin.

"Seconds matter in life-threatening situations, this would cut minutes off the ability for our campus to go into lockdown," Meade County High School Principal Garrett Frank said.

Although only installing the technology just two weeks ago, Meade County Schools has already used the new tool.

Michele Miller, a teacher at Meade County High School, put the technology to use just last week when a situation occurred with a student.

Crisis Alert Badge — CrisisAlert badge by Centegix.

"I heard a teacher yell out, 'will someone push their buttons,'" Miller said. "There was probably about four of us in the general area of where this occurred, and I think all four of us ended up pushing our button and within a matter of seconds three administrators showed up at the location, directly at the location and took over the situation."

Previously, Miller explained that type of situation would have required a teacher to find a phone, call front office to locate and notify administrators, and then describe the location where the situation occurred.

Instead, CrisisAlert immediately notified staff members which cut down their response time.

"I've been here 18 years, that just doesn't happen, that's the quickest response I've ever seen," Miller said.

Substitutes and athletic coaches will also be trained and wear CrisisAlert badges.

The technology provides coverage inside and outside of buildings, from parking lots to athletic fields.

All new employees will undergo training on the technology, and all staff will be re-trained once a year.

Meade County Schools has a five-year contract with Centegix. Three community partners will cover the cost of the contract, in turn, not costing Meade County Schools a penny. Partners include Monument Chemical, Nucor Steel of Brandenburg, and the Rick Kueber Family.

"When I think about living out a culture of safety, Monument Chemical and Nucor separate themselves from their peers," Martin said. "The Kueber Family has financially invested in multiple ways in our school systems over the years and I am thankful for their passion to position students for innovative opportunities but to do so in a safe learning environment."

CrisisAlert relies on its own technology and network to operate, therefore, if district wi-fi or cellular networks are unavailable, CrisisAlert would still work.