News

May 18, 2023

New school security system immediately notifies police about threats on Duval County campuses

Jennifer Waugh, The Morning Show anchor, I-Team reporter Duval County Public Schools has installed a new security system in every school that allows teachers and staff to immediately notify first

Jennifer Waugh, The Morning Show anchor, I-Team reporter

Duval County Public Schools has installed a new security system in every school that allows teachers and staff to immediately notify first responders if a school threat occurs on campus.

Teachers and staff will be issued key cards that track their exact location on campus and notify Duval County school police, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, the school board, the superintendent and all other critical personnel if a school threat has been reported.

The district says teachers and staff will be required to wear the key cards along with their ID badges at all times when on campus.

News4JAX was the first news media organization to see how the new system works through a demonstration offered at LaVilla School of the Arts.

Jim Culbert, chief technology officer for Duval County Public Schools, showed how teachers can press a button on the key card they are issued, triggering a chain reaction response.

If a teacher or staff member presses the button eight times or more, a Code Red lockdown is initiated on campus.

Within seconds of pressing the button, “it (a recorded message) will come over the intercom to tell the students exactly what they are supposed to do,” explained Culbert.

Every classroom, hallway and room inside all Duval County schools and outside areas on campus have special sensors installed in the ceiling that will blink red as part of the Code Red lockdown. The sensors look like smoke detectors and will flash.

At the same time, all school-issued computers will receive a Code Red lockdown message, which instructs teachers and staff to lock classroom doors, turn off the lights, be quiet and prepare to evade or defend.

Teachers who might be in the middle of instruction using their projection screens will also be notified. The same Code Red message will appear on the projection screens in their classroom.

“At the same time, it’s sent to the mobile phones of the police officers that are here on campus, staff that is here at school, cabinet members, superintendent and all the wonderful police officers that work for the district,” explained Culbert.

This means within a matter of seconds emergency responders will be notified a school threat has occurred at a specific school.

The new Centegix security system can also track the exact location of the teacher or staff member who initiated the alert allowing first responders to know where on campus the threat is located.

Culbert showed us how the system also displays a map with the Code Red lockdown message, showing the location of the teacher reporting a school threat.

“It’s a game changer,” explained assistant principal Johnson Joseph, LaVilla School of the Arts. “You know the exact location and you know who, so there’s no trying to figure out, grabbing walkies, who initiated the alert, who did what. You just go,” he explained.

Joseph said the previous security system used an app, which relied on Wi-Fi. “The old system you had to pull out your cell phone and look for the app. All I have to do is tap the card and my alert goes off,” he said.

Culbert said the Centegix security system will cost the district $800,000 a year. The state of Florida is paying another $200,000 through a grant. The system, in total, costs $1 million.

Teachers will be issued their new key cards and trained when they return to campus this school year.

The key cards can also be used to report Code Yellow alerts, which require a different number of presses on the key card button.

For example, pressing the button fourt times will trigger an alert a teacher needs help in their classroom, such as a medical emergency. When an alert or lockdown ends, an “all clear” message will be sent to everyone who was notified of the emergency.

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