GENTRY -- On Monday and Tuesday of this week, Gentry School District conducted scheduled tests of the Rave Panic Button, a system with a smart phone application which allows teachers and administrators, with the single touch of a button on a wireless device, to call 911 and simultaneously notify school officials of an emergency on campus.
The smart phone application has separate buttons to call for police, fire, medical, other 911 emergencies and a large active shooter button. When a button is activated, a call goes to 911. Other teachers and school staff on the system also receive alert notifications of the emergency for a speedier response.
According to an email from Jason Barrett, the school district's transportation and maintenance director, the district was planning to test all four buttons in the smart phone application on Monday and Tuesday, using a different button at each campus.
Rick Lane, Gentry's school resource officer, and Vester Cripps, Gentry's fire chief, were going to assist in the testing to make sure the 911 operators were fully aware of the testing and were also receiving emergency messages through the phone application.
The school district uses the Rave Panic Button application to comply with Arkansas Act 950 of 2015. Act 950 required such a plan to be in place by Sept. 1.
General News on 11/11/2015