CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A bill requiring schools across the Mountain State be equipped with panic alerts for use in emergencies is now on its way to the full senate for consideration.
The Senate Education Committee moved Senate Bill 434 to the full senate Tuesday after some brief discussion and amendments on it.
Working in conjunction with the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, the bill would require school employees be assigned a wearable alert system and receive training on how to use it in case of an emergency.
Committee Education Chief Counsel Hank Hager who read off the proposed bill Tuesday said the system would be able to immediately inform EMS of the situation.
“Each wearable panic alert system is required to be integrated with local public safety answering point infrastructure to transmit 911 calls and mobile activations, and initiating a campus-wide lockdown notification,” Hager said.
Raleigh County Senator Rollan Roberts said, however, that the original proposal didn’t have distinguishing language between public schools and non-public schools. He moved to amend the proposal for that reason.
“Because when we say the term, “every school in the state,” that is all encompassing, so I just wonder if there needs to be some measure of restrictive language there to clarify,” Roberts inquired.
It was then agreed to amend the bill to encompass all schools clarifying that it includes public charter schools as well.
Education Committee Vice Chair Charles Clements further asked the question, will it give private schools the option to wear these devices?
Hager said he believes this can include private schools as well.
“Even if the bill didn’t specify private schools, if they wanted to participate, I don’t know anything that would prohibit them from participating, they would have to come up with the funding obviously to do that, but I don’t know of anything that would prohibit them from participating in this,” he said.
Hager said while it’s not specified in the bill, if the state doesn’t appropriate the funding for public schools to have these devices, he believes it would be up to boards of education in the different counties to fund it.
Committee Education Chair Amy Grady said that is something that would ultimately be left up to the legislature to decide.
Robert’s amendment of the bill would make the alert system mandatory for public schools and optional for private schools.