BIXBY, Okla. — 700 children and teens have been arrested in 45 states in the past three weeks for making violent threats against schools.
That’s according to a New York Times investigation.
Lockdowns are widespread and chaos is occurring.
“This is extremely important because not only does it make students feel unsafe, but we don’t know if parents know and the school knows how to respond appropriately,” said Rob Miller, superintendent of Bixby Public Schools. It could cause confusion.”
Miller said Bixby is rolling out new programs that include new technology to ensure safety.
It’s an app called Hey HQ that quickly connects teachers, administrators, and school officials during incidents.
“This allows teachers to quickly contact us in the event of any scenario or emergency,” said District Safety Officer Stephen Scott.
Scott said texting and walkie-talkies are still used for communication, but this option allows everyone to be informed at the same time.
Enabling the “Active Assailant” option in the app will send an alert to the entire building and to authorities.
There is also a live chat option to communicate with each other during an incident.
There are also lower-tier incident options. For example, in case of a lost child, medical assistance, drug or alcohol incident, the authorities are not always immediately contacted.
“It will notify the principal on the ground and the SRO (school resource officer) will also be notified so they can start moving in that direction and be aware of the situation,” Scott said. I did.
Districts can’t require teachers to download the app on their phones, but Scott said about 75% do.
Miller said the area already has security guards in place and a secure vestibule that can be used for background checks on visitors and metal detectors if deemed necessary. .
“On a daily basis and when you see young students walking by, I think it’s a little bit over the top,” Miller said.
Miller believes the app is a more “behind the scenes” approach that will keep students safer and allow them to focus on school rather than worrying.
This technology is fully funded through the Tulsa Community Foundation and the Secure Our Schools Foundation.
Any school can apply, and in addition to technology, it provides other helpful resources.
Click here to apply.
Jenks also uses this program.
Stay in touch with us anytime, anywhere —
