Florida's Panic Button Law Sparks Debate on Future School Security: Should They Be 'Built Like Military Bases?'

TALLAHASSEE, FL—As school shootings, dead students, and murdered educators become sickeningly more commonplace, a dark new trend has emerged to protect the most vulnerable: panic buttons on teachers.

Attached to staff ID badges, teachers are told to press the button three times in an everyday emergency. For a school shooting? Don't stop pushing, the Washington Post reported. The life-saving device was first required in every Florida county under the 2020 Alyssa's Law, named for one of 17 victims in the 2018 massacre at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School, 14-year-old Alyssa Alhadeff. The slow response by law enforcement, it's speculated, may have contributed to the heavy death toll.

Now, Florida Lawmakers, building off of their groundbreaking 2020 law, say there's more to be done—in polar opposite ways.

"We need to build schools the same way we build military bases, with security and point of access being top priorities, and whenever possible we should colocate schools with police departments and Sheriff substations," Republican Rep. Spencer Roach, who will retire Nov. 5, told The Floridian. He says while he supports Alyssa's Law, he believes that the "most impactful" measure passed by the state was the post-Parkland Guardian Program, which places armed guards on school campuses.

"I continue to believe that we need more school districts to embrace this idea, as well as calling for a radical new way of thinking about how we design and build government schools," he continued, pointing out that roughly half of Florida's 67 counties have employed the non-mandated program.

Democratic Sen. Shevrin Jones, meanwhile, thinks that arming officers on campuses is "not sufficient."

"We must provide school districts with the resources necessary to ensure safer classrooms. It's not sufficient to have armed officers on campus; students and parents deserve the assurance of safety in Florida's schools," Jones, a strong advocate for gun control, told The Floridian. "Currently, I believe many families do not feel that sense of security."

Last week, Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia employed the panic alarm system, created by crisis-alert company Centegix, even though the Peach State is not one of the six states requiring it. They would need it.

14-year-old Colt Gray on Tuesday shot and killed two students, two teachers, and wounded nine others, though law enforcement was at the scene in a matter of minutes—likely abating what could have been an even worse outcome—after staff desperately mashed the buttons in hopes of relief.

He is now in custody and will be tried as an adult, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said.

Four years after Alyssa's Law, around 35% of Florida counties use Centegix as their mandated public alarm system—including massive counties like Hillsborough and Palm Beach. Another 17% use Raptor Technologies, which is a mobile app allowing staff to contact authorities with the tap of a button. Alachua County Schools told The Floridian that they are in the process of transitioning to Raptor.

Just over 16% use SaferWatch, another mobile app (including Miami-Dade and Broward), while a slew of other counties use systems like CrisisGo, CrisisAlert, SmartCAD, Intrado, Rave Panic App, Mutualink Panic Button, Guard911, and Alyssa's Alert. Many smaller counties said that these systems had not been officially implemented until this summer or the year prior, despite Alyssa's Law requiring its usage beginning in the 2021-2022 school year.

Republican Rep. Chip LaMarca, the sponsor of Alyssa's Law, told The Floridian that he intends to keep counties that may be slow on the uptake accountable—insisting that they must stay up to date with the panic alarm systems.

"Each district should have the appropriate platform that allows communication directly with parents, as well as a system to alert employees and students. This system must be compatible with law enforcement and other agencies. If this is not done, the state should act to bring them into compliance after four years," he said.

Jones agreed, highlighting that though noncompliance may stem from resource issues "especially with the legislature continually pulling from our schools," he believes that "prioritizing" subsidizing panic alarm systems "when we return to the session is crucial."

Since 2018, there have been 205 school shootings that have killed or injured a total of 488 students and teachers. 23 of those shootings and 49 of those people have been just this year.