Mississippi school alert systems are designed to create safe and secure learning environments for the state’s young people. According to the Mississippi School Safety Manual, school leaders across the state must prepare for the possibility of an active shooter on campus, so students, staff, and emergency personnel fully understand their roles.

A minimum of two active shooter drills are mandated to take place within the first 60 days of each semester. The rule was established as part of the Mississippi School Safety Act of 2019. Three different drills are acceptable as part of Mississippi school safety solutions:

As part of the plan, all schools must have two family reunification points and maps to those locations.

The Mississippi Department of Education’s Division of School Safety is tasked with helping schools with physical security, emergency operation, and school discipline. The division provides training and technical assistance for Mississippi school safety solutions:

The State of Mississippi created The Office of Safe and Orderly Schools as part of the Department of Education to provide a series of guidelines for those in positions of responsibility for the health and safety of students and staff:

The divisions that comprise the Office of Safe and Orderly Schools stress the importance of community-wide partnerships in the development of procedures and policies that effectively support the operation and maintenance of a healthy, safe, orderly, and disciplined school environment.

The office compiled and distributed the Mississippi School Safety Manual which describes the roles and responsibilities of administrators, teachers, students, and school resource officers. It also presents procedures for site assessments that determine if school facilities are following proper safety protocols, including the use of locks, cameras, and alarms to respond to a potentially violent situation.

As the incidents of school shootings have increased nationally, Mississippi has been researching ways to make its schools safer places for students, teachers, and staff members.

Gov. Tate Reeves has proposed creating the Mississippi School Guardian Program. It would send school employees through training with the Department of Public Safety. Those employees would be certified to carry guns and use them during an active shooter situation.

In addition, the Department of Education has partnered with the Mississippi Office of Homeland Security, to establish the School Safety Alliance in 2022.

The group’s mission is to study student mental health issues and evaluate current state laws and policies to ensure students have safe learning environments. The alliance includes representatives from the Department of Education, the Department of Public Safety, the Department of Homeland Security, the State Attorney General’s office, and school employees.

The CENTEGIX Safety Platform is an emergency incident response safety system that features wearable panic buttons, digital mapping software, and reunification and visitor management capabilities and generates accurate, usable data. The Safety Platform solution uses visual strobes, digital messages, and automated intercom announcements to inform everyone of a campus-wide incident and to instruct them on actions they should take. The Safety Platform meets the security infrastructure needs the Mississippi school safety grants aim to address.

The Safety Platform features an analytics dashboard that assists administrators as they make safety and security decisions. A data set is generated when a staff member uses their wearable badge to request assistance. Administrators can better understand where and why and under what conditions. These administrative decisions, enabled by Platform data, contribute to the “positive and safe climate” that the safety grants aim to foster. 

The CENTEGIX school safety platform provides robust and uninterrupted communication between staff members, administrators, first responders, and students. Unlike other emergency incident response systems, the Safety Platform’s technology precludes adoption and connectivity challenges. It runs on a dedicated IoT network; it’s not susceptible to Wi-Fi or cellular connectivity interruptions. And because the CrisisAlert mobile panic button is worn along with an ID badge, 100% of staff members use it. This high adoption rate means that every staff member at every location on campus can request help when they need it. CrisisAlert generates accurate location data for every alert, no matter where on campus. Therefore first responders know exactly where to go during an emergency. In many instances, this kind of rapid response can prevent tragedy. 

These critical features of the CrisisAlert badge and Safety Blueprint from CENTEGIX ensure an immediate response: 

CENTEGIX Safety Platform can help school districts and LEAs enact these measures, making students and staff safer. The Safety platform school safety solution helps create a climate of safety by enabling staff members to request help immediately, from anywhere on campus, in any type of emergency. Under these conditions, teachers can focus on student needs, and students can focus on learning. 

CENTEGIX is the leader in incident response solutions. Our Safety Platform is the fastest and easiest way for staff to request help in an emergency, from the everyday to the extreme. CENTEGIX innovates technology to empower and protect people, and leaders nationwide trust our safety solutions to provide peace of mind.