Panic button app to be shared with RCS staff

HAMLET — This year, staff in Richmond County Schools will have access to the RAVE panic button in case of a school emergency.

“It gives your staff the ability to press a button and report an emergency, like an active shooter,” executive director of auxiliary services Melvin Ingram said.

The app will send notifications to all staff at the school within a geo-fenced area of the campus. It will also connect a user to fire, medical, and law enforcement first-responders. The app works on cellular service and Wi-Fi across all carriers and operating systems.

75 school districts in North Carolina have so far committed to using this operating system. The NC Department of Public Instruction is paying for the app on behalf of all public schools.

Ingram said the RAVE safety button is part of RCS’s “layered, multi-tiered” approach to school safety and will work in conjunction with their School Risk Management Plan. He also added that the app is easy to use, and that the school system will continue to use the Sam Something Anonymous Reporting System that allows anyone to share safety concerns if they believe someone may hurt themselves or others.

The RAVE panic button is Safety Act certified by the Department of Homeland Security.

There was no action item regarding the panic button for the Richmond County Board of Education on Tuesday night, but they were provided information regarding this new tool. In 2021, marketing research company Ombdia estimated schools spent more than $3 billion on school security.