What changes inside a school after a safety law passes?
Former Delaware Governor Jack Markell wants that question to remain part of the conversation after the signing ceremony. Schools need resources to implement a requirement, and educators need tools they can use when someone needs help.
In Episode 10 of The Safety Signal, “Show Me the Money. Promises Don’t Make Schools Safe,” Markell joins CENTEGIX CMO Robb Monkman to discuss government’s responsibilities, Alyssa’s Law, and the capabilities now available to schools.
His observations about wearable panic button technology give that policy discussion a practical dimension. He recognizes that wearable devices support response to everyday fights and health issues as well as catastrophic events. Together, these themes raise a useful question for school leaders: what will the investment enable employees to do during the school day?
What does Markell say about wearable panic buttons for everyday emergencies?
When Monkman asks how school safety has changed since Markell’s time as governor, Markell points to the greater range of tools available today.
He mentions wearable devices offered by CENTEGIX and explains that their uses extend to fights and health issues, with the ability to summon authorities quickly.
“There are so many more tools available,” he says.
Monkman expands on that point by naming behavioral incidents, medical emergencies, and elopement as situations educators face alongside preparing for worst-case scenarios.
These everyday needs belong in preparedness planning. The CDC’s guidance on managing chronic health conditions in schools recognizes both daily care and potential emergencies. A plan must account for how an employee requests assistance while trained personnel follow the relevant medical or safety procedures.
A CENTEGIX CrisisAlert™ wearable panic button gives staff an accessible way to initiate an alert. In a medical incident, connecting the request for help with location information and designated responders can support a coordinated response. The technology supports trained people and their procedures; it does not replace clinical care or emergency services.
Why does Alyssa’s Law implementation require funding?
When the conversation turns to Alyssa’s Law, Markell returns to resources.
“Show me the money,” he says.
He welcomes the passage of school safety laws, then emphasizes that their purpose depends on implementation: “Without the resources to actually implement and to keep kids safe, it’s only rhetoric.”
His comments connect to a concrete challenge for schools. Districts need to select a system, establish response workflows, prepare users, and sustain the deployment. Implementation planning and role-based training help turn the investment into a capability employees can use.
Funding and compliance mechanisms vary by state. For example, New Jersey’s 2020 school security grant guidelines prioritized panic alarm installation to meet Alyssa’s Law. The guidelines illustrate how a state can connect a safety requirement with resources for implementation.
The Florida Department of Education’s Alyssa’s Alert guidance addresses coordination with county 911 authorities and emergency management offices. Its device provisions include consideration of several alert methods, including wearables. Districts should evaluate their specific requirements and funding arrangements rather than assume one device type is universally mandated.
The broader advocacy behind Alyssa’s Law also connects legislation to the daily protection of students and staff. Markell adds the perspective of someone who has been responsible for making policy operational.
How does a wearable panic button connect to a school alert system?
A wearable panic button initiates a request. The school alert system supports what happens next: locating the person, notifying the appropriate responders, and communicating the required action.
Markell highlights the ability to use lights and sound, share the emergency’s nature and location, and in some cases provide video. These are capabilities that help people interpret and respond to an alert.
The CISA K–12 School Security Guide supports evaluating security as a connected system. For a school emergency alert system, that means examining the response supported by the wearable as well as the device itself.
Within the CENTEGIX Safety Platform®, alerts connect with location and notification capabilities. Safety Blueprint® supplies campus and asset mapping context, while campus-wide emergency workflows can include visual and audible notifications.
An everyday request for assistance and a campus-wide emergency need appropriate routing. Schools should establish which personnel receive each alert and how those personnel act. The federal school emergency operations planning guide recommends defining roles and responsibilities with response partners.
When comparing wireless panic button systems, leaders should also understand how the devices communicate. Network dependencies, coverage, and system monitoring affect whether an employee’s request becomes usable information for responders.
What makes a deployed system useful during the school day?
Markell’s question about life inside schools brings implementation back to the employee’s experience. A system must be available, understood, and connected to people who can respond.
School leaders should examine staff adoption and confidence alongside installation. Employees need to know when to request help, how an alert is acknowledged, and what response to expect. The system should fit the school’s established protocols.
Practice helps teams find problems while they can still address them. FEMA’s exercise and improvement planning guidance describes how exercises support capability evaluation and corrective action.
Districts can use that process to check whether an alert reaches the designated team, whether its location is understood, and whether the required response follows. These observations also help leaders assess the value of a school alert system over its lifecycle.
Markell’s comments about everyday incidents give leaders a reason to consider these practical uses when implementing safety policy. Staff need support for situations occurring during ordinary school days as well as the emergency everyone hopes will never happen.
What should communities ask after a school safety law passes?
Markell urges parents, teachers, and citizens to keep using their voices so officials do not consider their job finished when a law is signed.
Communities can ask whether funding is available, whether schools have completed implementation, whether staff are prepared, and whether response partners are connected. Those questions keep attention on conditions inside schools.
Markell also connects safety to education. Students and teachers need to feel safe for learning and teaching to take place effectively.
“Unless everybody feels safe in the school,” he says, children and teachers cannot be expected to perform at their best.
His advice to public leaders ends with a call to make the investments schools need: “Not just words, but action.” For districts implementing wearable panic buttons, that action includes equipping staff and supporting the response behind every alert.
Hear Markell’s full discussion of Alyssa’s Law, wearable devices, and implementation in Episode 10 of The Safety Signal, “Show Me the Money. Promises Don’t Make Schools Safe.”
Frequently asked questions about wearable panic buttons and Alyssa’s Law
What is a wearable panic button?
A wearable panic button is a portable device worn by an employee to initiate an alert. Its response capabilities depend on the connected system, including how it identifies location and notifies designated personnel.
How is a wearable panic button different from an emergency notification system?
The panic button initiates the alert. The emergency notification system includes the technology and workflows that communicate it, notify responders, and provide information or instructions needed for the response.
Does Alyssa’s Law always require a wearable panic button?
Requirements differ by state. Official guidance in New Jersey and Florida describes multiple alert methods. Districts should review their applicable law, agency guidance, and integration requirements before selecting a solution.
Can wearable panic buttons support everyday emergencies?
Yes, when the system and school procedures support those uses. Markell discusses fights and health issues in the episode. Schools should establish appropriate alert workflows for everyday assistance and campus-wide emergencies.
Why does funding matter after a school safety law passes?
Schools need resources to purchase, implement, train for, and sustain the required capabilities. Markell argues that a law’s impact should be judged by the protection it makes possible inside schools.