JOHN COFFELTEditor

Manchester City Schools’ security efforts will have in the coming months a new tool, wearable distress alert devices in the event that teachers need immediate assistance.

Director of Technology/Safe Schools Coordinator Mark Howell said that devices would be able to pinpoint the location of the personnel in the event of an emergency.

Manchester schools will be one of a very few to have the wearable devices will be worn on staff and will have a distress button to call for help, Howell told the Manchester Board of Education at the Dec. 12 meeting, held at Boskey’s Restaurant near Summitville.

“The will be a great addition to our safety plan and will give us some visibility as to where things are happening in the building,” Howell said.

Once the purchase order has been secured, the contracting company Centegix will take about four months to install the infrastructure and train personnel in the district.

Howell clarified that the security personnel and school administrators will only see the employees’ locations when they depress the alert button.

The three-year contract with Centegix will cost $96,000. All employees at all three campuses will have the devices.

The Centegix CrisisAlert system can be triggered by anywhere on campus, according to company data. A single-button activation alerts local responders and administrators immediately of an “I need help incident,” displaying a map showing who needs help and where they’re located on campus.

The funds come from state safety initiative funds and not local monies.

Manchester City Schools follows Sequatchie County Schools in implementing CrisisAlert. ol?

According to the manufacturer the CENTEGIX Education Safety Platform stands apart from other platforms for its ability to provide full campus coverage and detect the precise location of an incident.

“Our CrisisAlert solution doesn’t rely on WiFi or cellular connection. By operating on a private connection, breakdowns in communications are prevented, during emergencies that take place in old school buildings or one in which causes power outages,” company spokesperson Sydney Stressman said.

“Because CrisisAlert is not app-based, it has a 100% user adoption rate as every staff member is given a badge to wear on their person anytime they are on the school campus. Other safety technologies require staff to download an app onto their personal phone, which interferes with their privacy and results in an average download rate of only 20%,” she said.

John has been with the Manchester Times since May 2011. John has won Tennessee Press Association awards for Best News Photo and placed in numerous other categories. John is a 1994 graduate of Tullahoma High School, a graduate of Motlow State Community College and earned a Bachelor of Arts in English from Middle Tennessee State University. He lives in Tullahoma, enjoys painting, dancing and exploring the outdoors.