New alert system coming to Allegheny Valley School District

Allegheny Valley School District officials hope a new alert system can provide a more effective way to respond to incidents.

The school board approved purchasing badges to be worn by district staff members for the Centegix silent crisis alert system.

“They are badges the staff can use in the event of an emergency, whether that be a medical issue, or a student issue, as well as the more extreme,” said Jan Zastawniak, district spokeswoman.

All staff members will wear the badges, which essentially act as another card on a staff member’s lanyard, Zastawniak said. It looks like a credit card with a button.

The cards have two functions: pressing the button a few times notifies an internal, district-level response team — such as principals, nurses and school police officers — of an emergency, such as a fight or medical issue, Zastawniak said.

Pressing the button several more times triggers a notification to municipal police for a significant emergency.

“Our thought was: how can we get people there as quick as possible?” Zastawniak said.

The idea behind the badges is for district staff to have the ability to seek help or report an issue with more immediacy than using a phone.

The system will cost Allegheny Valley $148,200. The district will use $112,200 in grant funding from the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency to cover the majority of the purchase.

Zastawniak anticipates the district having the system ready to roll out in three months. All staff will receive training for the program.

She said the district talked with Plum School District officials, who implemented the program in August. Plum was believed to be the first district in Pennsylvania to use the system.

Centegix is headquartered in Atlanta. It started offering its CrisisAlert system in 2018, after the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla.

Centegix now has customers in 43 states and more than 12,000 locations. In addition to schools, it also is used in government, health care and hospitality settings.

“We believe it’s an additional security measure, an additional safety measure, for all types of incidents that may happen,” Zastawniak said.

“We believe it will make things quicker and decrease response times.”