NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — A bill that was working towards getting emergency alert systems into Tennessee schools has been withdrawn because it is no longer needed to be made possible.
The School Safety Grant now covers the cost of the wearable emergency alert systems for teachers.
The School Safety Grant was legislation that was passed by the General Assembly last year. Lawmakers approved over $230 million to go towards boosting security at schools.
Wednesday, right before the bill that proposed the alert systems was going to be discussed in the Senate Education Committee, Senator Mark Pody, who has been working on this bill, announced the Tennessee Department of Education approved the grant expansion to cover the technology.
The alert systems can be worn like a lanyard around a teacher's neck.
There would be three buttons in different colors to identify what type of emergency is happening when pressed. One would represent a behavior issue that's taking place and will alert the school's administrator and resource officer.
Another button would mean a medical emergency was happening and would call the school nurse and alert local EMS. The third button would mean an active threat or shooter — which would alert law enforcement, SROs, and school administrators.
The alert systems would also have GPS and audio and video recording capabilities
"The police officers will see exactly what is going on. if that teacher is seeing whats going on, directly to officer. identify shooter, what weapons, and what they're doing," said Senator Pody when discussing the original bill.
Senator Pody said instead of waiting for months for legislation to pass, schools can begin applying for this technology now.
I LOVE Forrest's stories on the history of NewsChannel 5 as we celebrate our 70th anniversary. Here's a story I wasn't familiar with until recently. Eudora Boxley had a live cooking show in the early days of the station. She may have been the first black on air at NewsChannel 5 and perhaps, one of the first African Americans to have a TV cooking show anywhere in the country. It wasn't until her grandson reached out to me that I even heard of Ms. Boxley. Thankfully, I was able to connect him with Forest to learn more about this great nugget in NewsChannel 5 history.
-Lelan Statom
