New school safety feature helping teachers identify possible threats
More mental health and safety resources are being put into school districts across the state of Florida. It’s part of efforts to make parents and kids feel safer about heading to school each day. This comes after violence and school shootings continue to plague the country.
”You look at keeping kids safe, there’s got to be layers of security,” David Rogers said. Rogers is the chief marketing officer of Raptor Technologies. The app has been implemented in school districts for more than a year, but it recently got an update.
A new feature now allows school employees to use their phones to record anything out of the ordinary with a student.
“What you have is the ability for the teacher, but also the coach, the bus driver — they can submit certain levels of information,” Rogers said. “They can’t see everything. You want the administration, the counselors, and the folks on the other side to be able to see that information, to connect the dots.”
The technology will allow all school employees to input notes that may be of importance. For example, if a student is having a tough time adjusting to a parent’s divorce.
The parent can let the front desk personnel know. That person will then record it on the app. Later, if that child is having a tough time in class or maybe not eating lunch — it would be recorded in the app as well.
School employees may link the lack of eating to the parent’s divorce. On a larger scale, employees can note any threats a student may have made or if there were concerning drawings done in class.
”You’re getting this 360-degree view of what’s going on with this student,” Rogers said.
Many counties in Northeast Florida are implementing the application. Currently, Baker, Nassau, Duval and Bradford counties will use this for the upcoming school year, according to Rogers.
Another school resource that will be added for Duval County students is mental health counselors.”This year, we will have a dedicated health therapist at a high school, as well as our other elementary, and middle schools,” Superintendent Diana Greene said.
Parents must give permission ahead of time for their child to see a counselor.
It’s all in an effort to reduce the threat at our schools and keep kids safer.
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