The Cobb County School District this week announced the implementation of a new emergency alert system, and East Cobb’s Bells Ferry Elementary School is one of the schools serving as a testing ground for the service.
Cobb Board of Education members and the public were briefed about the new system at a work session on Wednesday. The other school that is a “proof of concept” location during the current school year is Kennesaw Mountain High School.
The new emergency system, known as AlertPoint, allows each employee within a school—including administrators, teachers and other staffers—to activate a device should an emergency occur. This includes fires, active shooters and other intruders, physical altercations and medical emergencies.
When an AlertPoint device is activated, alert information is relayed via computer and mobile devices to school-level administrators and security personnel, as well as at the school district office, within seconds.
The location and identity of the person sending the alert also is transmitted. When a “Code Red” alert is triggered, flashing lights, beeping sounds and voice messages ring out, and the intercom system indicates a lockdown situation is underway.
The AlertPoint system is patterned after existing school fire emergency procedures.
Cobb is the first school district in Georgia to use the AlertPoint system, according to Superintendent Chris Ragsdale.
“Columbine [the deadly 1999 Colorado high school shootings] changed how we do school security,” he said.
Phil Bradford, a Cobb school police officer, said the biggest security concerns remain at high schools, since elementary and middle schools have more controlled access.
“This is a capability we’ve never had before, particularly in the high schools,” he said. “If one of the staff members sees something that is that threatening, within in a matter of seconds, the entire building can know what to do.”
Ragsdale said the school district is “starting with the rollout” of AlertPoint in other schools, but for security reasons he would not identify them.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwTcMIhM35Q
